1 dead, 3 injured in UT-Austin stabbing; suspect in custody: Police

The stabbings happened near the Gregory Gym, according to police.

ByABC News
May 1, 2017, 5:20 PM

— -- Police have taken a suspect into custody after multiple people were stabbed on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Monday.

The suspect, identified by campus police as 20-year-old student Kendrex J. White, was apprehended for allegedly attacking four people. One of the victims died at the scene, according to campus police.

All the victims were students believed to be around age 20, said UT-Austin Police Chief David Carter said in a press conference Monday afternoon.

PHOTO: A man is arrested after a fatal stabbing attack on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, May 1, 2017.
A man is arrested after a fatal stabbing attack on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, May 1, 2017.

The three victims who were transported to the hospital were "seriously injured," said UT-Austin President Greg Fenves.

The stabbings happened near the Gregory Gym, according to the Austin Police Department.

Around 1:49 p.m., police received a call detailing an individual attacking or assaulting someone outside the gym, Carter said. When an officer arrived on the scene about two minutes later, he observed an individual armed with what appeared to be a large hunting knife walking away from a victim, Carter said.

PHOTO: Officials investigate after a fatal stabbing attack at the University of Texas campus, May 1, 2017, in Austin, Texas.
Officials investigate after a fatal stabbing attack at the University of Texas campus, May 1, 2017, in Austin, Texas.

Three more stabbing victims were found about a block away, Carter said. White allegedly walked around the Gregory Gym plaza "calmly" as he attacked the students, Carter said.

At least 25 people, mostly students, witnessed the stabbings, Carter said. White is currently being interrogated by police and has not yet been charged. There is no known motive at this time, Carter said.

"I just saw this guy, he was in a light blue shirt, I just remember his face so vividly, and he was like holding his neck, and he either said, 'I've just been stabbed,' or like, 'He's been stabbed! He's been stabbed!" eyewitness Ileanna Guerri told ABC News.

"I just, I left my phone, my laptop open, my lunch out, my backpack, everything, I just sprinted and we went at least a hundred yards, two hundred yards away from the scene," Elissa Garza, another eyewitness, said of the incident.

PHOTO: Law enforcement officers secure the scene after a fatal stabbing attack on the University of Texas campus Monday, May, 1, 2017.
Law enforcement officers secure the scene after a fatal stabbing attack on the University of Texas campus Monday, May, 1, 2017.

Police warned people to avoid the area but said there is no ongoing threat to the campus. Classes have been canceled for the rest of the day, Fenves said.

"This breaks my heart to have to announce this," Fenves said. "It breaks my heart when any of our students are touched by tragedy."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on Twitter that he is "praying" for those affected by the "heinous attack."