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Ottawa police say they have charged a man in what is being a called a random hammer attack in the city’s core earlier this week.

In a statement released late Friday, police said they had arrested 31-year-old Jeffrey Weber in connection with the Tuesday night attack on a man who was walking on Somerset Street, just west of Bank Street.

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The 51-year-old victim, who wasn’t named, was taken to the Ottawa Hospital with severe facial and head injures. The suspect, who was also carrying a large kitchen knife in a plastic package, ran off.

Police said Weber was “in a secure facility” and was to appear in court by video Saturday to be charged with aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon.

The victim is still recovering in hospital, police said.

With files from Meghan Hurley