'No rhyme or reason' for machete attack at Ohio restaurant

COLUMBUS (AP) — From the front door, the man with the machete didn't have a straight path to people in the booths at the small suburban restaurant.

He stepped by the welcoming greeting on the front glass, past the half-wall entryway divider and the display case of kataifi and other Mediterranean pastries.

Immediately, police said, he started swinging.

"There was no rhyme or reason as to who he was going after," said Sgt. Rich Weiner, a Columbus police spokesman.

By the time it was over, four people were wounded and the attacker was dead, shot by police in a confrontation a few miles away. No officers were hurt.

It's unclear what motivated the Thursday evening attack. Columbus police confirmed they're working with federal authorities on the investigation but wouldn't give further details.

They credited the restaurant's employees and patrons with acting quickly and observantly to fend off the man and help authorities catch him. Some threw chairs at the attacker, who'd been there about a half-hour earlier but left after a conversation with an employee, and someone scuffled with the man before he fled in a car, Weiner said. Several people called 911.