A man who is accused in a random stabbing in a Salmon Creek parking lot on Saturday told a Clark County sheriff’s deputy, “I just walked up and buried a knife in a guy because my God said so. There will be more, hundreds,” court records state.
David Wayne Carpenter, 56, was scheduled to appear Monday morning in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault and attempted first-degree assault. However, a corrections deputy told the court that Carpenter was being combative and throwing water. His hearing was set over to Tuesday morning.
In the meantime, Judge John Fairgrieve set Carpenter’s bail at $750,000.
Shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, deputies were dispatched to a disturbance with a weapon at the Columbia Credit Union parking lot, 13100 N.E. Highway 99. Multiple witnesses said a man wielding a knife had stabbed another man, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Arriving deputies located the suspect, later identified as Carpenter, and gave him commands to stop, but he didn’t comply, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
“A Taser was deployed, and after other deputies arrived on scene, the suspect was taken into custody without further incident,” the news release states.
Witnesses said Carpenter had attempted to stab a man, identified in court records as Steven Stoll, while he was seated in his vehicle in the parking lot.
Stoll, 19, told deputies Carpenter aggressively approached his vehicle and was shouting nonsense. He could see Carpenter holding something in his jacket pocket. He then produced a folding knife with a 4-inch blade and swung at Stoll through his open window, the affidavit says.
Stoll dodged the blow, put his vehicle in reverse and careened through the parking lot until he hit a curb. Scott Buley, 67, said he was walking away from the credit union when he saw Carpenter chasing a fleeing vehicle. When Carpenter couldn’t catch it, he turned his attention to Buley, according to court documents.
Carpenter approached Buley without saying a word and stabbed him on the right side of his back. Buley pulled away, not realizing he had been stabbed, and the knife was still in his back. He eventually removed it and placed it in his pocket, the affidavit states. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment; his injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening.
