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One Killed, 3 Injured In Stabbing On UT Campus; Suspect In Custody

Martin do Nascimento
/
KUT
Emergency services personnel respond to the scene outside Gregory Gym where four students were stabbed, one fatally.

One person is dead and three others are injured after a stabbing near the Gregory Gym on UT-Austin campus Monday. A suspect is in custody and there is no ongoing threat, UT police said.

UT Police Chief David Carter said police responded to a call of an assault near the gym around 1:49 p.m. The responding officer reportedly saw Kendrex J. White, 21, walking away from the scene, armed with a large "Bowie-style knife." White complied with an order to get down on the ground and was taken into custody without incident.  

Credit Martin do Nascimento / KUT
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KUT
UT Police Chief David Carter briefs the media on a fatal stabbing on UT campus.

Two of the injured students are out of the hospital, according to University President Greg Fenves.

The Graham Independent School District – northwest of Fort Worth - identified the student killed as Harrison Brown, who they say graduated from Graham High School last year. 

It was unknown whether White, a UT biology major, knew the victims.

Freshman Rachel Prichett told KUT's Nadia Hamdan she was waiting at a Chi'Lantro food truck to get lunch when she saw a man walking calmly by, holding a "machete-type" knife.  

"He grabbed this guy by the shoulder, who was facing away from him, and stabbed him in the back," she said. As she was running away from the scene, Prichett said, she saw another person who had been stabbed.   

Four men, all believed to be students, were injured. One person died at the scene; the others were being treated at Brackenridge Hospital, Carter said. Two of the victims have since been released from the hospital, UT-Austin President Greg Fenves said in an email to the UT community Monday night.

Fenves said the school canceled the rest of the day’s classes and other activities out of respect for the victims and their families. Classes were to resume as normal on Tuesday.

The incident marks the second murder on UT's campus in just over a year; freshman Haruka Weiser was killed in April 2016. Her death sparked a conversation about on-campus safety. 

Credit Martin do Nascimento / KUT
/
KUT
The backpack of suspect Kendrex White, who was taken into custody by UTPD in the entrance of Jester Hall.

"We are going to actively investigate this along with law enforcement and do everything we can to continue to work on making campus safety a top priority," Fenves said Monday. 

When asked why UT police didn't sound a campus-wide alarm in response to the attack, Carter said the incident was over too quickly. He said the alarm may have been activated if, for example, police didn't know where the suspect was. "Because then you could say there was obviously an ongoing threat to campus."

In a statement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressed support for both UTPD and the Dallas Police Department, after a paramedic and a citizen were shot in East Dallas earlier Monday. 

"I have been briefed by the Department of Public Safety on both incidents, and have also talked to the University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves," Abbott said. "As the investigations into these heinous crimes continue, I have offered all available state resources to both Dallas and the University of Texas to assist in any effort." 

Chief Carter urged parents and students to call UT-Austin's hotline at (866) 657-9400 if they have any concerns. Officials said UT's Conseling and Mental Health Center will have extended hours over the next few days

This post has been updated throughout

Stephanie Federico is a digital news editor at KUT.org. Got a tip? Email her at sfederico@kut.org. Follow her on Twitter @steph_federico.