A 21-year-old man charged after a campus stabbing told medical staff he was trying to kill his percussion instructor and aimed for the neck and heart.
University public safety officers at the University of Minnesota Morris took the man into custody Tuesday after a knife attack inside the Humanities Fine Arts building, CBS News Minnesota reported from court records.
He now faces four felony counts, including first-degree attempted murder, and could get up to 57 years in prison if convicted.
Around 4:02 p.m., a university public safety officer responded to the building and found a witness holding a door closed that led to several music practice rooms. The witness said the attacker was still inside one of them.
The officer found the victim bleeding from the arm. That person was taken to a hospital with two or three cuts on the head and stab injuries on the arm.
Additional officers arrived. Officials called for the person in the room to come out with his hands up. The 21-year-old stepped out and was taken into custody. A knife was found in one of the rooms.
The man was taken to a hospital to be treated for a cut of his own. There, and later with investigators, he described what he had done and why.
Per the criminal complaint, he had bought the knife on Monday. On Tuesday, he carried out the attack.
He told a doctor he was “trying to kill” his percussion instructor and that he stabbed his pinky in the process. He also told medical personnel he had the knife in his hand and was “trying to stab” the victim in the neck and heart.
When investigators asked why he attacked, the complaint records this answer:
"I had the knife in my pocket, and I was planning, and I did it"
He said he hated the victim for being a “goodie two shoes.” He also told investigators that “all his life he had a monster inside of him that he kept buried,” but that it came out on Tuesday.
Prosecutors charged him with one count of first-degree attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, and two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
The complaint ties the case to a planned knife attack on campus, not a sudden scuffle. He bought the weapon the day before. He said he had it in his pocket, planned the act, and followed through. He told medical staff his aim was the neck and heart.
The victim’s identity is not named in the available court summary beyond the man’s own description of a percussion instructor. The witness who held the door also is not named. What is clear is the sequence: a locked-down practice-room hallway, a bleeding victim, a recovered knife, and a suspect who came out with his hands up and then described intent to kill.
Campus public safety contained the scene. Medical crews moved the injured person to a hospital. Investigators documented the man’s statements. Charging followed on the four counts listed above.
Planned violence with a newly bought knife is not a misunderstanding. It is a crime with a victim, a recovered weapon, and a defendant’s own words about wanting to kill. Courts exist to test those facts and deliver the sentence the law allows.
