Alderwood mall stabbing sends man to hospital; suspect in custody

Published 4:30 pm Sunday, January 15, 2017

LYNNWOOD — A food court employee at Alderwood mall was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after being stabbed Sunday afternoon.

Lynnwood police said a 37-year-old man stabbed the employee after some sort of a confrontation just before 2 p.m.

The suspect is in custody, Lynnwood police Sgt. Sean Doty said in a news release. The stabbing victim is a man in his 20s. His injuries are not life threatening, police said.

A man in his 30s who intervened during the incident also was cut but not badly injured. No other injuries were reported, Doty said.

There was confusion on social media, where rumors flew that there had been a shooting at the mall. Those initial reports were “completely unfounded,” Doty said. No gun was involved.

Witnesses described people crying outside or hiding in bathrooms or stores. Some stores went into lockdown.

This is the second stabbing at Alderwood since late December. A man was stabbed on Christmas Eve while trying to break up a fight. He has since been released from Harborview. The violence in the December case was sparked by a dispute over a drug debt, according to court papers.

The man who was stabbed wasn’t part of that dispute and simply tried to stop the violence, documents show.

He told the people fighting that there were kids around and, “It’s Christmas.”

He was punched in the face and then stabbed in the back.