A 71-year-old man was taking a walk near Crighton Reserve in Port Melbourne around 5:20 a.m. when an unknown assailant approached and stabbed him three times.

The victim, who is from Port Melbourne, managed to escape to a nearby cafe on Bay Street, where he alerted others to his predicament.

“He was in decent shape, thankfully, still able to speak… I was relieved about that. But he was bleeding heavily and had lost a lot of blood,” recounted witness Mohammad Hassoun.

“It seemed pointless; they didn’t try to steal anything from him—just stabbed and fled,” he added.

The injured man was quickly taken to the hospital, where he is being treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Despite a comprehensive search of the vicinity, authorities have yet to apprehend the suspect.

He is described as Caucasian, aged between 30 and 40 years old, around 182cm tall, possibly with brown hair, wearing all black clothing.

“It is shocking to us and it’s concerning considering the age of the victim and the location it’s happened,” Detective Senior Constable Georgia Herbert said.

“It was early in the morning, a lot of people are out walking their dogs at that time.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

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