A man has been charged in the March stabbing of an 11-year-old boy at a Dollar Tree in Mill Creek, according to court documents.
Joshua David Pence, 29, was charged with the first-degree assault of a child with a deadly weapon and attempted first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
According to court documents, at about 5 p.m. on March 22, officers responded to 911 calls about a stabbing at Dollar Tree in the 3400 block of 132nd Street Southeast in Mill Creek.
Callers reported that three people had run into the store and one had stabbed one of the other two. Reports also said the suspect was sitting outside the store and the victim was hiding in the back storeroom.
When officers arrived, witnesses said two to three children ran into the store with a man chasing them. One of the shoppers said one of the boys yelled, “It’s not that serious!” before the man grabbed one of the children while holding a large knife.
One witness said they saw Pence stab one of the children with the knife, according to court documents.
Another witness said one of the children said, “I’ve been stabbed. Someone help.”
After the stabbing, Pence allegedly dropped the knife and walked out of the store.
According to court documents, one of the children told police they saw Pence across the street and they yelled at him he was an “NPC.”
An “NPC” is a “non-playable character” in a video game that is not controlled by a human character.
It was at that point, Pence ran across the street and chased the boys inside the store.
The child that was stabbed was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of a partially collapsed lung.
According to police, the children said they had called Pence an “NPC” in the past too.
Police were able to locate the knife, which was about five inches long.
The state has asked for bail to be set at $500,000. Pence has no criminal history and no warrant history, according to court documents.
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