“I am going to kill you,” the man allegedly said before she started to run.

The next thing Zhang knew, a sharp object had pierced her back. The man was slashing her with a hatchet, creating 2-inch deep lacerations that would have been fatal were it not for Zhang’s thick coat, WBIW reported.

Police promptly arrested 59-year-old Dana Ericson for the attack. He was formally charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery causing serious injury on Monday.

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He pleaded not guilty.

According to the local ABC affiliate, Ericson admitted to police that he is a white supremacist and that he targeted Zhang because of her race.

“Is it a crime to strike evil?” he allegedly told police, adding that his was an act of “ethnic cleansing” because he “hates these people.”

Ericson’s bond was set at $500,000 and he has been ordered not to contact Zhang or her host family. Public records show that Ericson has previously been arrested on charges of battery, intimidation, stalking and others, WBIW reported, but many were dismissed after he agreed to mental health treatment.

Local residents told WISH TV that Ericson hadn’t taken his medication the day of the stabbing.

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The community is shaken by the incident in their town of less than 1,000 people. Witnesses speaking to Fox 59 recalled seeing Zhang hunched over and crying out in pain.

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“It’s scary and sad that they would do something to a poor little innocent girl like that,” Nashville business owner Tina Hunt said.

“When you hear of some kind of incident like this happening, it’s kind of riveting to you,” Brown County Superintendent David Shaffer said. “You don’t expect this to happen at all.”

Zhang has been released from the hospital and will return to school this week.

Over the weekend, classmates and other well-wishers gathered outside the courthouse in support of Zhang. They sang and meditated, WTHR reported, hoping to send the message that Brown County can still live up to its moniker as the “Peaceful Valley.”

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“We’re a very peaceful place to live, and we’re proud of that heritage,” Brown County resident Norbert Garvey told WTHR, “and we just want you to know that there’s no malice toward anyone in this county. Toward anyone from abroad or from another place.”

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Indiana is among a handful of states without hate crime laws, something lawmakers are working to change with a bill introduced earlier this month.