Witness says Colorado stabbing suspect asked about God

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Two of the people who were approached by a suspect accused of stabbing eight people during an apparent random rampage in Colorado Springs said the man asked them about their faith before attacking.

Police have not released any details about the suspect because investigators said they are still interviewing people involved.

Terri Poore, 48, who is homeless, told The Gazette that she was cooking ravioli with a candle under a bridge near America the Beautiful Park early Monday morning when a man with a blanket draped over his shoulders approached her and asked whether she loved God.

“I didn’t know if to say ‘Yes,’ and he was going to hurt me. Or ‘No,’ and he was going to hurt me,” she said. “I’ve never been so traumatized in my life.”

Poore said she did not answer and then a man nearby her tried kicking the suspect’s 4- to 5-inch (10-12 centimetre) knife away; the suspect attacked him, stabbing him about 20 times.

Jonny Seaton, 20, said he tried to help that wounded man and that, at some point, the suspect asked him if he was a Christian.

Seaton said he said yes but his fiancee answered no. He said the man then attacked them both. He said the suspect held a knife to his neck and slashed his ear when he tried to escape. His fiancee charged the suspect and he slashed her face.

“He had some super-human speed to him or something,” Seaton said.

The rampage started around 1:30 a.m. and ended about 40 minutes later when the suspect was restrained by some victims.

Five of the eight people wounded were released from the hospital within several hours of being attacked. None of the injuries were life threatening, police spokesman Lt. Jim Sokolik said.

There does not to appear to be any relationship between the suspect and his victims, he said.

The Associated Press