Police say the man who stabbed another man in the torso at a Charlottesville church Thursday afternoon knew his victim.
But what prompted the stabbing remains unclear.
What is known, police say, is "This was not a random attack."
Police identified the suspect Thursday night as Edward Conlin Lee, a 44-year-old Charlottesville resident. Lee was arrested Thursday afternoon after evading police for more than an hour and remains in custody at Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. He has been charged with malicious wounding.
The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, was at University of Virginia Medical Center Thursday night and listed in critical condition.
Officers were dispatched around 4:35 p.m. Thursday to a reported stabbing at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church at the corner of Thomson Road and Emmet Street near UVa Grounds.
"Initial investigation has revealed that both the suspect and victim were at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church on Thomson Rd," Charlottesville police said in a statement issued Thursday night. "There was an altercation that took place and the victim was subsequently stabbed at that location."
Lee reportedly left the church and was spotted a block away on Emmet Street near UVa’s Alumni Hall. UVa police issued an emergency alert at 4:49 p.m. reporting an "active attacker" wielding a knife in that vicinity. Those in the area were urged to "RUN HIDE FIGHT," and a shelter-in-place order was instituted for the UVa community.
Additional alerts described the suspect as a middle-age, White male wearing a red sweatshirt, white T-shirt, blue sweatpants and white tennis shoes.
According to police scanner activity, however, the suspect discarded his red sweatshirt as he evaded authorities.
"UPD [University Police Division] found the sweatshirt behind Halsey Hall in a trash can," an officer reported via radio. That officer was instructed to preserve the sweatshirt as evidence.
Halsey Hall, home to the UVa Department of Statistics, is at 148 Amphitheater Way, 0.6 miles south of where the attack was reported.
Police found Lee another 1 1/2 miles south of Halsey Hall just before 5:40 p.m. in front of 215 Stribling Ave. on the border of Charlottesville’s Jefferson Park Avenue and Fifeville neighborhoods.
A witness at the scene of the arrest told The Daily Progress the suspect was taken into custody without incident.
A police officer approached the man and ordered him to "Stop what you’re doing. Get on the ground."
"He talked him out of it and brought him down to his knees," the witness, who declined to provide his name, recounted. "No shooting, no firing, no knees on the neck, nothing."
He said it took all of one minute for the suspect to surrender to the officer.
"The guy goes right on his knees, and they cuff him and he’s done," he said. "It was actually pretty uneventful."
The shelter-in-place order at UVa was lifted at 5:44 p.m.
An investigation into the stabbing is ongoing. Police encourage anyone with information to contact the anonymous Crime Stoppers tip line at (434) 977-4000.
Thursday was the second time in one week UVa has been shut down. On Tuesday, the university community was urged to shelter in place while police combed the area for hours searching for a fugitive with known gang ties who had fled an off-Grounds traffic stop. That fugitive, Nyeem Hill, was never caught and remains on the run. There is no indication the two incidents are related.
Daily Progress reporters Hawes Spencer and Emily Hemphill contributed to this story.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com