California police seek assailant who severed homeless man’s hand with sword

Police have yet to arrest attacker in incident near Los Angeles, as violence against homeless residents has increased in recent years

Police in Riverside, California, reportedly thought the detached hand residents had reported seeing on the sidewalk was a movie prop. Then they learned that someone was being treated for a severed hand.

The man in the hospital said that he had been injured by someone wielding a sword on Saturday night, officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesperson for the Riverside police, said in a statement to the Guardian.