Woman stabbed by roommate off campus

Nick Roll, Olivia Balcerzak
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:45:17 +0000
Campus, Crime, crime, featured, northwood, northwood stabbing, ohio state, stabbing

The woman who was stabbed was transported to the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in critical condition, but was stable after a few hours. Credit: Olivia Balcerzak | Lantern Reporter

A 19-year-old woman was stabbed on Thursday afternoon at a residence on Neil Avenue near the intersection of West Northwood Avenue. The suspect, a 22-year-old man who police believe is her roommate, was arrested by officers from University Police and the Columbus Division of Police.

Neither of the people, whose names have yet to be released, are Ohio State students, said Columbus Division of Police spokesman Rich Weiner. The woman was transported to the OSU Wexner Medical Center in critical condition, but is now stable. The woman’s name has yet to be released, as police are still looking to notify her relatives of her injuries. The suspect’s name has not yet been released since he has not yet been formally charged with a crime, Weiner said.

“Right now we’re just dealing with the incident that we have here,” Weiner said. “It’s part of a long investigation, obviously we’re at the very beginning part of it.”

Weiner said that the suspect threatened a man who was also in the residence before that man fled the house. After that altercation, the suspect is believed to have stabbed the woman. Officers responding to the scene found the victim across the street bleeding heavily, and the suspect had gone back inside the house. When confronted by an officer, Weiner said, he fled out the back. Another officer shot once, but did not strike the suspect who was arrested at nearby Tuttle Park after continuing to flee.

“I’m pretty sure (the man who was threatened) is really stressed out and (shaken) up about it. Like he called me after it all happened, and I was sitting at home, and I thought he was on drugs because he was just freaking out so much,” said Dalton Dooley, third-year in exploration and friend of the man who was threatened. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, like, (he) like tried to like kill me,’ and he was freaking out. And then 10 minutes later we heard a bunch of sirens, and we came back here.”

The suspect was taken to the hospital as well, with non-critical injuries that officers believe to be from a knife, Weiner said. He said he did not know how the suspect got those injuries.

Weiner said he expected the block of Neil Avenue between West Northwood and West Oakland avenues to remain blocked off by police until early Thursday evening.

Weiner said officers had not yet spoken with the officer who had fired his gun, and that his name would be released in 24 hours, under standard procedure. He said the officer had been with the Columbus Division of Police for more than 15 years.