LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A man armed with a machete asked about the political affiliations of people at a university coffee shop Friday morning before committing an attack that injured a female student in central Kentucky, a witness said.
Lexington police Sgt. Jervis Middleton told the Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/2qeBRIv ) the assailant at Transylvania University was armed with a machete and knives and is thought to be a former student.
Student Tristan Reynolds told the newspaper he saw the man enter the coffee shop.
“A guy came in, banged something, a hatchet or an ax, on the table and said ‘the day of reckoning has come,'” Reynolds said. “He asked somebody what their political affiliation was, they said ‘Republican’ and the guy said ‘you are safe.’ And then I realized what was going on and started getting people out.”
“We started to scatter and then very, very quickly, campus security was getting everybody sheltered and secure,” Reynolds said.
Fire department Battalion Chief Joe Best said the victim was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He said the assailant was taken to the hospital to be evaluated.
The victim was “safe and her family is with her at UK Hospital,” Transylvania University President Seamus Carey said.
Campus security officers were able to quickly subdue the assailant, which prevented further injury, Lexington Police Chief Mark Barnard said.
The university canceled classes for the day.
___
Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
