Grandfather Fatally Stabbed After Asking Man to Stop Doing Drugs at Park

Grandfather Fatally Stabbed After Asking Man to Stop Doing Drugs at Park
(L) A box of nitrous oxide "whippets," also known as laughing gas, which is known to be an abused drug. (Wikipedia/GreenZeb, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en))/(Screenshot/Google Maps)
Sarah Le
9/4/2018
Updated:
9/4/2018

A grandfather attending his 1-year-old granddaughter’s birthday party in Utica, Michigan, was fatally stabbed on the afternoon of Sept. 1 after approaching a nearby man and asking him to stop doing drugs at the park.

The man was reportedly sitting on a bench using drugs in front of the young children at Grant Park, according to Macomb Daily.
Witnesses told the newspaper that the man appeared to have a box of “whippets”—containers of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. The gas is known to be abused by some people in order to feel intoxicated.
The grandfather went up to the man and asked him to remove the drugs, but the man became enraged. He attacked the grandfather, pushing him to the ground. He then pulled out a 8-10 inch machete-like knife, stabbing the grandfather at least 15 times, said witnesses and police.

“He was enraged. He seemed like he had the strength of the Tasmanian devil,” Amanda Pasho, who lives nearby the park, told Macomb Daily. “My heart goes out to the family of that poor man. I can’t believe this happened in front of them.”

Residents called the authorities and about 10 police from both Utica and Shelby township arrived, as well as two ambulances. They found the suspect on scene and officers arrested him at gunpoint.

The victim died at the scene.