Employee Stabs 5 People at Florida Business

Police know of no motive, but wonder about 9/11 anniversary
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2019 4:50 PM CDT
5 Hospitalized After Stabbings at Florida Company
Acting Police Chief Steven Outlaw briefs reporters in Tallahassee, Florida, on Wednesday, hours after police say a 41-year-old man stabbed five co-workers.   (AP Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan)

An employee stabbed five people at a company in a Florida industrial court Wednesday after a dispute that resulted in his being asked to clock out. The victims were hospitalized after being attacked with a folding knife, CNN reports, with one of them in serious condition, two in fair condition, and two listed in good condition. Tallahassee police said the motive was unclear, and called the attack at Dyke Industries "spontaneous." The suspect, Antwann D. Brown, 41, was not known to have issues with his employer, where he had worked for more than three months. Many local officers were at a 9/11 ceremony when the attack took place, per the Democrat. No connection between the stabbings and the anniversary was found, though Steve Outlaw, the city's interim police chief, said, "you can't help but wonder."

One victim had just arrived for a job interview and was on the phone with his wife. "The next thing I know, he said, 'Baby, I’ve been stabbed five times,'" she said. Another man who was not stabbed texted his wife when the violence began. "Come and get me," he texted. The stabbings follow a weekend of shootings in the city that left two people dead and one wounded, as well as other recent violence. Outlaw said Wednesday that many of the people involved knew each other and were involved in criminal actions. Tallahassee is still "a safe community," he said. (More stabbing attack stories.)

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