UT Austin Campus Stabbing: Student Killed, 3 Others Injured In Attack [UPDATED]

Update: The suspect in Monday's stabbing attack on campus that left one student dead and injured three others has been charged. Kendrex J. White, 21, also a student at the school has been charged with murder, officials said at a press conference Tuesday.

At the press conference, UT-Austin president Greg Fenves said he had spoken with the dead student's mother and brother. He identified the victim as freshman Harrison Brown.

UT-Austin police chief David Carter said the attack was not a conspiracy of any sort and while rumors had circulated among students that fraternity members were targeted in the attack, police did not find anything to suggest that was the case. Carter also said the suspect had mental health issues and had been involuntarily committed in a different city and released.

Original Story Below:

AUSTIN, TX — A male student was killed and three others injured Monday when a fellow student, reportedly armed with a hunting knife, walked around the Gregory Gym area of campus and attacked the four students, UT Austin Police Chief David Carter said at a press conference Monday.

Carter said police received a call around 1:45 p.m. about an individual who assaulted someone outside the Gregory Gym. An officer was on the scene in less than two minutes and saw a person walking away from a student who was lying on the ground, Carter said. Police were immediately able to take the suspect, identified as Kendrex J. White, 21, into custody.

Like his victim, White also studied at UT-Austin as confirmed by police in a press conference following the attack. In information found on his Facebook page, he is a 2014 graduate of Killeen High School from the namesake city in Central Texas.

By late Monday, an entry had been created on Everipedia, a crowd-sourced online encyclopedia, alerting to the death of the student who was fatally stabbed, identified as Harrison Brown by school officials in his hometown of Graham, Texas. Photographs of the victim accompanied the text on Everipedia. A GoFundMe account also was set up, dubbed the Harrison Brown Memorial Fund.

In the first hour of its creation, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $8,600 of a $10,000 goal, funds intended for the young victim's family.

Patch checked on Monday evening with the Austin Police Department to see if a booking photo of the suspect might be imminently released. "We are not releasing it at this time due to investigative reasons," a police spokesperson emailed back.

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Students at the scene posted photos on social media, including images of the purported suspect, including the one below posted by senior economics major Ray Arredondo:

Authorities found that within a block of where the student had been attacked, there were three more victims, all male students, who had been stabbed. One of the students died from his injuries, and the rest were taken to Brackenridge Hospital for treatment.

By Monday evening, school officials in Graham, Texas, located in the north central part of the state identified the dead student. According to a statement by Graham Independent School District officials, Brown had just graduated from high school last year. The town of Graham is located some 80 miles northwest of Fort Worth and 122 miles from Dallas.

"There are no words adequate enough to express the sorrow felt by Graham ISD and the community of Graham for this loss," officials said. "Harrison was an inspiration to everyone around him. We were Blessed and honored to have known him."

In a press conference following the attack, Carter said the suspect "calmly walked around the plaza," attacking the four students. Speaking at the press conference, UT-Austin President Greg Fenves said a tragedy had struck at the heart of campus. Fenves urged students to call their parents and referred concerned parents and loved ones to a specially created hotline for updates at 1-866-657-9400.

Classes and evening events were canceled for the remainder of the day out of respect for the victims and their families.

Uriel Villa, a senior biology major, saw the aftermath of the stabbing that took place in front of Gregory Gym. He told Patch he was in the Student Activities Center next door when he peered outside a window to see what the commotion was all about. He said he saw multiple students running away from the area outside the gym, and then saw a student on the ground bleeding profusely as medics furiously attempted life-saving measures.

Villa surmised the student he saw profusely bleeding was the confirmed fatality given the severe nature of his injuries: "It looked like he had been stabbed in the throat," Villa said. "I saw a lot of cops running toward the gym, and that's when I saw the student on the floor."

Villa said the victim appeared to be a white male. Other students said they heard rumors of an orchestrated effort, with students stabbed not only outside the gym but at the West Campus as well. But by late afternoon, police debunked those claims in tweeting the reports were not credible.

Patrick Moore, a senior computer science major, stood outside the cordoned area witnessing the scene as police guarded the perimeter and a female FBI agent scurried across the campus toward them. Moore said he's sensed a growing frustration on campus, particularly a growing aversion to fraternities and their members' perceived attitudes of entitlement and behavior marked by debauchery.

"This is a symptom of a bigger issue," Moore said. In conversations with other students, he added many students are growing increasingly frustrated with the high cost of higher education.

Villa said he heard the attacker first checked if the victim outside Gregory Gym was a fraternity member, pulling open his outer shirt to see Greek letters emblazoned on the undershirt prior to stabbing him. However, such reports haven't been officially confirmed by university officials or police.

A group of anonymous activists recently took credit for defacing several frat houses with anti-fraternity messages. Villa said he has heard several students say members of fraternities were targeted in the attack, although the reports have not been officially confirmed by university officials (see: Activists Claim Responsibility Amid Probe Of UT-Austin Frat Houses Graffiti Defacement).

Rumors about a bomb threat being called in to some parts of the campus came minutes after the attack, however officials repeatedly said there was no additional threat to the campus. A manager at Einstein Bagels, a popular spot for students off Guadalupe Street fronting campus, made an impromptu announcement to patrons alerting them about stabbing in explaining why she had to lock the front door. Outside, police cars with sirens engaged raced down Guadalupe aka the "main drag" while a police helicopter flew overhead.

On social media, the fact the attack occurred on May Day didn't go unnoticed by some students. The day promoting international workers' rights is timed with the anniversary of the Haymarket affair in Chicago, when police killed four people at a peaceful protest after someone threw a bomb into the crowd.

Preceding the attack, someone flew a sign from the Moody bridge that read "Tuition pays for bombs," although it's unclear whether this was related to the stabbing incident.

Police acknowledged the abounding rumors, cautioning the public to wait until they have an official statement ready to share. They added there is no further threat to the public in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing.

In a related move, police set up a hotline intended for use by parents and loved ones of UT-Austin students needing the most updated information direct from official sources. That hotline number again is 1-866-657-9400.

By Monday evening, UT-Austin officials also weighed in on the rumors swirling throughout campus. In a tweet, school officials said they were unaware of other incidents other than the one fronting Gregory Gym. Officials also announced the extension of shuttle bus service for students needing transportation, and noted they had beefed up police patrols on the grounds in tandem with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In an alert sent to students after Monday's attack, university officials said there was no "additional immediate threat" to the campus, a point officials reiterated over and over again by officials.

Some students took to Twitter to complain that the university was slow in alerting students to the stabbing. Addressing the criticism, Carter said there was a difference between an emergency notification and getting information out to the community in a timely manner. He stressed that it was not an ongoing situation and the suspect was in custody fairly quickly.

Rumors circulated among students on Twitter that there was a threat to the Belo building, however the Moody College of Communications said in a tweet that the building is open and there is no imminent threat at the time. Police said that the rumored incident near 24th/26th street on the West Campus was deemed not credible, which is in the area of the building.

Fenves sent the following message to the campus community after the attack:

"Praying for all those affected by this heinous attack & for the @UTAustin community," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted.

Police said White was currently being interrogated and they had more than 25 witnesses at the scene, most of whom were students.

The UT Counseling and Mental Health Center has extended hours and established a 24-hour hotline for students.

Monday's attack comes 13 months after the sexual assault and murder of a freshman UT-Austin student killed by a transient youth in a poorly lighted part of campus. Security was supposedly heightened following that attack, university officials said at the time (see: University of Texas Student, Dance Major, Identified As Homicide Victim).

This is a breaking news story. Refresh this page for updates.

Uppermost image: Scene outside Gregory Gym, UT-Austin, Tony Cantú contributed to this story (photos by Cantú)