NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A maskless man slashed a woman and threatened to shoot up a Queens IHOP restaurant after staffers tried to kick him out for refusing to wear a mask on Tuesday, police said.
The incident occurred just before 5 p.m. when the maskless man entered the restaurant at 170-19 Hillside Avenue in Jamaica Hills.
According to officials, employees told the man to leave after he refused to put on a mask.
An employee then called 911 and surveillance video released by police shows the man exit the restaurant.
Employees then barricaded the door with a table but moments later, the man returned with two friends — one of whom is seen handing him a knife.
The suspect tried to stab a male worker before swinging the knife and slashing a 40-year-old acting general manager near her left elbow, police said.
The woman needed seven stitches, officials said.
The Queens Eagle reported that the maskless man kept repeating that he’d “shoot up the store.”
The attacker fled the IHOP on Hillside Avenue.
An investigation remains ongoing and police are working on identifying the suspect.
He is described as a Black man, in his 20s last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, gray sweatpants and black and red sneakers.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).