June 23, 2020 - 1:46 PM
GIDDINGS, Texas - A man stabbed four people apparently at random, running frenetically from one attack to the next, before he was gunned down by a police officer in a Central Texas city, the police chief said Tuesday.
All four victims in the Monday morning stabbings are expected to survive, Giddings police Chief Haril Walpole said in a statement.
The first victim was a 39-year-old woman who was stabbed outside her place of work in Giddings, Walpole said. The attacker then ran along Highway 77 to a Texaco gas station where he stabbed and wounded the 62-year-old clerk behind the store counter. After that, the attacker ran toward a parked pickup truck, flung open the door and stabbed a 49-year-old man who was sitting inside, Walpole said. That victim was able to get out of the truck and a bystander intervened, prompting the attacker to flee, he said.
The attacker ran into his fourth victim nearby, stabbing the 55-year-old man several times.
“All of the victims appear to be random,” Walpole said.
Walpole said officers responding to several 911 calls eventually encountered the man and told him repeatedly to drop the knife, but instead he approached a retreating officer who stumbled backwards onto the ground. As the attacker came closer still, the officer opened fire, shooting him three times, Walpole said.
Justice of the Peace Michael York pronounced the 43-year-old attacker dead at the scene.
Walpole did not provide the names of the attacker, his victims or the officers involved.
The officer who shot and killed the attacker has been with the Giddings Police Department for two years and holds the rank of sergeant. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Texas Rangers.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020