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Man Wielding Knife Kills One and Injures Three at University of Texas
Dave Montgomery and
AUSTIN — A man killed one student and wounded three others on Monday at the University of Texas, walking calmly from one to another and stabbing them with a bowie knife, setting off panic and rumors of a larger wave of violence.
The university police identified the suspect as Kendrex J. White, a 21-year-old student who was quickly arrested. Witnesses described the suspect as eerily composed during the episode near Gregory Gymnasium, and said that when he was confronted by police officers, he did not speak or appear to hurry.
Rachel Prichett, 19, a student from Austin, said she was standing at a food truck when she heard screaming, turned and saw a man holding what looked like “a small machete” approaching her, “just walking calmly with the knife to his side.”
The suspect walked behind a man a few feet away from her, then grasped the man’s shoulder with one hand and with the other hand stabbed him in the back, thrusting the knife “all the way in.”
Ms. Prichett said she fled, running past another victim, his head bloody, who was slumped over a table.
In recent weeks, fraternity houses at the university had been vandalized with messages accusing them of promoting racism and rape. Many people on campus speculated Monday that the knife attack was related.
But Chief David Carter, of the University of Texas at Austin Police Department, said the authorities did not know of a motive for the stabbings. Speaking at a news conference, Chief Carter said that he was aware of the rumors but that he did not know if the victims, all men, were fraternity members.
Mr. White is black. Chief Carter said the four who were stabbed, all age 20 or 21, included three white men and one Asian-American man. One died at the scene, and the others were taken to the university medical center. The authorities did not immediately release the victims’ names.
School officials in Graham, Tex., identified the student who died as Harrison Brown, according to The Austin American-Statesman.
“Harrison was an inspiration to everyone around him,” the school said in a Facebook post. “We were blessed and honored to have known him.” Mr. Brown was a 2016 graduate of Graham High School.
After the attack, unfounded rumors flew of more violence and more assailants on the loose, and there was a bomb threat against a nearby building.
A student who said he knows Mr. White socially, William Verastegui, said the suspect had always seemed friendly. “He didn’t seem to be hotheaded; he didn’t seem to be an angry person or anything like that,” Mr. Verastegui said.
The grassy open areas on campus were crowded with students on Monday. The police received the first report of the stabbing at 1:49 p.m. Officers arrived within two minutes and arrested Mr. White without incident.
Ray Arredondo, 21, a student from San Antonio, said, “I just saw swarms of people running away from Gregory Gym, and my first reaction was ‘gun,’ so I ran, too.”
“The cops were on scene, and they were doing CPR on one victim,” he said. “There was another guy who had lacerations to his head or neck, and a police officer was holding his head.”
He used his phone to take a picture of officers taking Mr. White into custody and posted it to Twitter. “He was like emotionless, very nonchalant, from what I saw,” Mr. Arredondo said.
Another Twitter user posted a short video showing a man sitting on brick steps, with other people pressing on what appeared to be a bloody wound in his back. Local television news footage later showed what appeared to be that same man being loaded into an ambulance.
Lindsey Clark, 20, a student from Richardson, Tex., heard screaming, then saw police officers force the suspect to the ground outside the Jester Center, across the street from the gymnasium. She said she heard an officer say, “Don’t move or you’re going to get tased.”
Dave Montgomery reported from Austin, and Richard Pérez-Peña from New York. Cat Cardenas contributed reporting from Austin, and Manny Fernandez from Houston.
For breaking news and in-depth reporting, follow @NYTNational on Twitter.
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