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POLICE are investigating whether a disagreement between two friends prompted an alleged violent axe attack which has left one man with serious cuts to his neck and a second man on the run from police.
Newcastle City detectives were searching on Wednesday night for a 37-year-old man wanted for questioning over the alleged tomahawk attack on a foothpath in front of Mayfield homes.
The victim, a 33-year-old from Stockton, was undergoing emergency surgery on Wednesday afternoon after Upfold Street residents helped him stem the bleeding from a 12-centimetre long cut.
It is understood surgeons were working to stabilise the man, and his condition on Wednesday night had not been updated.
Neighbours have told how they heard loud swearing from two men as they walked along Upfold Street shortly before the man was struck.
‘‘They didn’t appear to be in a good mood, let’s put it that way,’’ one resident said.
The victim’s bike was left on the pavement where the alleged attack took place while a bloodied towel and a backpack were left about 30 metres away. The suspected weapon, believed to be a tomahawk, was not found.
Crime scene specialists were called to the scene to gather evidence after two residential blocks were cordoned off by police.
Police announced the attack was not believed to be random, attempting to allay residents’ fears that an axeman was on the loose. The suspect was identified as a 37-year-old man as Caucasian, about 178 centimetres tall and with a thin build.
The man may be wearing black clothing and travelling in a black Hyundai with registration AQ7-6RU.
Police urge anyone who sees the man to avoid approaching him and call 000 immediately.