Thinking it was part of a performance art, bystanders looked on while a woman gets stabbed during a famous art exhibition by Art Basel in Florida. What was supposed to be an art exhibition turned into to a horrific crime scene.
As reported by Daily Mail UK, the horrific incident happened inside the Miami Beach Convention Center around 5 pm according to Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez. The woman was stabbed in a corridor near an art installation entitled "The Swamp of Sagittarius", created by Miami artists Naomi Fisher and Agatha Wara.
According to the police, the victim was being followed around by the suspect, even bumping into her for several times. When the victim confronted the suspect, the suspect then pulled out an X-Acto knife. The suspect then stabbed the victim at the right side of her neck and on her left shoulder. The police have identified the attacker as 24-year old Siyuan Zhao.
Zhao was immediately arrested by a Miami police officer. After she was subdued, she made a shocking confession to the officer. She said, "I had to kill her and two more. I had to watch her bleed."
Zhao was charged with felony attempted murder and admitted to the stabbing of the victim. At the time of the stabbing, Fisher said she heard commotions at her exhibit. She saw the victim as she was being wheeled away by paramedics.
"A guy walked up to me and said, 'I thought I saw a performance, and I thought it was fake blood, but it was real blood,'" Fisher told Miami Herald.
She added that the horrific incident happened in front of booth N29. "It's horrible ... I'm so freaked out," Fisher she said. "I feel nauseous."
When police officers secured the area with police tape, others still think it was part of the exhibit.
Meanwhile, Sara Fitzmaurice, Art Basel Miami Beach spokeswoman said that the stabbing was an isolated incident that was promptly secured. Within seconds from happening, the suspect was apprehended by the police who were at the scene.
Art Basel officials announced that security was increased inside and surround the convention center after the unfortunate attacks in Paris.
The victim reportedly suffered from several cuts and was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The wounds were non-fatal and the victim is expected to survive. Both the suspect and victim were patrons of the said gallery.
