Transylvania University Suspect Asked 'Political Affiliation' Before Knife Attack

LEXINGTON, KY — Two female students were attacked by a man armed with "various edged weapons" at a coffee shop on the campus of Transylvania University in Lexington Friday morning, police said.

Police said that around 8:45 a.m. Friday morning, a 19-year-old man, identified as Mitchell W. Adkins, of Cincinnati, Ohio, entered a building on the campus armed with "various edged weapons," and made verbal threats to the students and employees inside.

A witness quoted by the Lexington-Herald Leader said the suspect asked people their political affiliation before attacking. Police said Adkins struck two female victims, both of whom suffered non-life threatening injuries. One of the victims was taken to the hospital and the other was treated and released at the scene.

Adkins was taken into custody after a brief struggle and was then transported to the hospital with self-inflicted injuries, police said.

Police say investigators are still working to determine a motive for the attack.

“A guy came in, banged something, a hatchet or an ax, on the table and said ‘the day of reckoning has come,’” Tristan Reynolds, a student inside the cafe at the time, told the Herald-Leader. “He asked somebody what their political affiliation was, they said ‘Republican’ and the guy said ‘you are safe.’ And then I realized what was going on and started getting people out.”

Classes at the university was canceled for the day as a result of the attack.

Adkins was charged with first-degree assault, three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and fourth-degree assault.

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