Police said the 53-year-old man was slashed with a “bladed weapon” while putting rubbish in bins beside a convenience store in the village of Coalburn in Lanark on Sunday morning.
While police said the attack was unprovoked, they believe the shopkeeper was the intended target, with CCTV footage from the area showing the suspected attacker hiding in nearby bushes and to the side of the shop for at least two hours before the shopkeeper came out of his store at about 8.50am.
After the incident, on Coalburn Road, the suspected attacker ran off towards Dunns Crescent, with detectives now working to trace him.
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Meanwhile the shopkeeper was taken to Wishaw General Hospital for treatment, with staff there describing his condition as “stable”.
Detective constable Alison Geal from Lanarkshire CID, said: “This was a nasty attack. There appears to have been no attempt by the suspect to enter the store.”
Adding that they believe the “suspect knows the area” and “may be local”, DC Geal stated: “From our inquiries so far, we believe this attack to be totally unprovoked but that the person who was attacked was the target of the suspect.
“Officers have been checking CCTV from the area and we know that the man had been hiding in nearby bushes and to the side of the shop for at least two hours before the shopkeeper emerged from the store.”
However she said they had “a limited description of the suspect” as the hood of his jacket and snood he was wearing covered almost the whole of his face.
He is described as being male, 6ft in height, and of a slim build.
At the time of the incident he was wearing black jogging bottoms, a black North Face hooded top with white writing, a black snood, white trainers and orange gloves.
DC Geal continued: “The shop is in the middle of a residential area overlooked by numerous homes.
“Officers are in the area, but we’d appeal to anyone who may have doorbell footage, or dash cam, to contact police.
“If you have any information you believe may assist our inquiry, then please call police via 101.”
