PITTSBURG — Two women, one wearing a hijab, were stabbed at a bus stop in downtown Pittsburgh on Thursday in what appears to be a random act of violence.

A Pittsburgh police officer was patrolling the area just before noon when he noticed a woman sleeping at a bus stop. As the officer stopped to check on her, a man came up from behind and stabbed the woman in the neck. She later died from her injuries after being rushed to the hospital.

The man then spun and slashed the second woman, who was wearing a hijab. She received minor injuries.

The officer immediately subdued the man and gave the first woman assistance. Witnesses saw police arrive at the scene immediately and take the man into custody.

A video shot by a witness shows what appears to be the second woman standing behind the officer as he subdues the man on the ground.

Cmdr. Victor Joseph of Pittsburgh Police Department, who heads the bureau’s violent crime unit, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzete that it does not appear that the two women knew each other.

“We do not have a motive right now on why this crime took place — it seems, by all accounts, a random act of violence,” he said.

Police also said in a statement on Thursday that there is no evidence that the attack was racially or religiously motivated.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told the Post-Gazzete the organization has made inquiries into the attack.

“Given the recent deadly attacks nationwide and increased Islamophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric, CAIR is asking law enforcement authorities to investigate the possibility of a bias motive for the attack,” he said.