Moscow ? A young man with a shaved head shouting “I will kill!” rushed into a downtown synagogue Wednesday and stabbed eight people before he was wrestled to the ground and disarmed by the rabbi and his son.

The latest incident of apparent anti-Semitic violence brought swift condemnation from Russian government and religious leaders. Authorities who took the attacker into custody said they would pursue an investigation into charges of ethnic and religious violence against him.

At least three of the victims were said to have suffered serious injuries, including a 34-year-old Los Angeles rabbi, Michoel Mishulovin who had recently returned to work in his native Russia. He was stabbed in the stomach and hand and was undergoing surgery Wednesday night.

There have been growing numbers of attacks against Jews and other minorities in recent years, with nearly 50 killed in such violence in 2004. Two rabbis were severely beaten in a Moscow underpass in 2005.