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Mother Caught on Camera Running from Attacker Speaks Out

Posted: 10:38 AM May 9, 2012
Reporter: CNN

Mother Caught Fleeing Attacker, Daughter Speaks

A Massachusetts mother recounts a horrific stabbing incident that was caught on camera and her reaction that heats up debates.

The mother caught on surveillance camera running from a knife-wielding attacker speaks out about her incident and the backlash received since the video went viral.

"Give me your purse and I just see the knife, I didn't even look at his face I just saw the knife and stood back. And then tried looking around, running out into the middle of the street, calling for help."

Diem Nguyen, the 43-year-old mother is seen in the surveillance tape, as she desperately attempts to flee from an attacker Friday night.

The man came up to Nguyen and her 4-year-old daughter as the two were walking into a Vietnamese market. Nguyen says that's when she saw a knife shining in the man's hand, as he walked up and demanded her purse and threatened her daughter's life.

Nguyen says the attacker put the knife right on her daughter and said, 'if you run, I'll kill her.'

Just steps away from the store's entrance, Nguyen is seen in the video making a move to the street to attempt to find help, leaving her young daughter in the arm's of their attacker, a move she's now being criticized for.

When asked about the backlash received when she is seen in the video running from the attacker and her daughter , Nguyen says she doesn't know why she did what she did.

"I don't know. I don't know. In my mind I don't know what I'm thinking."

Nguyen can then be seen running back into the camera view, her assailant just steps behind. She attempts to make her way into the store to get help, when the knife point finally hits its mark.

Nguyen says the man fled when customers heard her desperate cries for help and came running, potentially saving the lives of her and her daughter. And although the visible wounds from the nightmare caught on camera will heal, for her, the emotional wounds will linger.

Springfield police say they're still searching for the suspect.