A suspect is in custody for allegedly stabbing a man Thursday inside Walmart on Highway 45.
Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said two men started fighting at about 5:40 p.m. near the front of the pharmacy side of the store, and one man stabbed the other.
Multiple witnesses called 911 from inside the store, prompting a heavy response from Columbus police and Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. Once officers arrived, they used descriptions witnesses and Walmart staff provided to locate and arrest the suspect at the gas station about 200 yards east of the store.
Police had not released the suspect’s name by press time, nor had they determined his charges.
“It might be multiple charges,” Daughtry said. “… We’re pulling video evidence because before we start jumping with charges, we want to make sure we put all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
Columbus Fire and Rescue personnel treated the victim on site before an ambulance arrived to take him to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, Daughtry said.
“He was conscious. He was speaking,” Daughtry said. “… From speaking with (paramedics), they were confident he’d be OK.”
Officer response time to the scene, Daughtry noted, was less than four minutes.
“Our main concern was to make sure everyone in Walmart was safe,” he said. “We had kids in here. We had ladies in here. We had senior citizens in here. We had everybody in here.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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