TOPEKA, Kan. — A man wielding a knife broke into a Kansas television station Wednesday morning and stabbed two sales employees.
WIBW-TV in Topeka reported the man eventually was tackled and held down by several employees until police arrived. While restrained, the man threatened to kill the staff and bit at least one worker.
The suspect and two people who were stabbed were taken to a hospital for treatment. None of their injuries were considered serious.
Topeka police Capt. Brian Desch said in a news release that the 48-year-old homeless man was booked into jail on suspicion of six counts, including aggravated battery and burglary.
The station reported that the melee started after the man spoke to news director Jon Janes on a lobby phone, saying the Department of Veterans Affairs was mishandling his case. When Janes explained that the man needed to discuss the issue with the VA, the man left the building.
He returned about 10 minutes later and threw a lamp through the glass front doors, Janes said.
Janes told the receptionist to tell other employees to leave the front office area. The station said some employees left as the man ran through the halls.
“He told me to hit him,” said Dylan Schoonover, who saw the man coming down a hallway near the newsroom edit bays. Schoonover slid out a side door unharmed.
Janes said he also spoke to the man on March 22, when he came to the station to see about having a story done on how he felt the VA was mistreating him. Janes also sent him away then.
Messages left at the station from The Associated Press weren’t immediately returned.
Jim Gleisberg, a public affairs officer for the VA, said he couldn’t comment on the attacks, citing patient privacy laws.
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