By Warren Kulo
Two men were left severely injured, with one paralyzed below the waist, after a stabbing incident at a Tractor Supply store in Atmore last week.
Atmore police said Thursday officers responded to the location shortly after noon and found one of the men laying just inside the entry of the Tractor Supply, bleeding profusely from stab wounds.
Officers and employees assisted in applying a tourniquet to slow blood loss.
A second man, meanwhile, was found in the parking lot, also bleeding profusely from stab wounds. Again, officers and others worked to slow the man’s blood loss until paramedics arrived.
Ultimately, both men were transported to Atmore Community Hospital before they were airlifted to separate trauma centers for treatment.
At the scene, police located two men who had large amounts of blood on their clothing, but were uninjured. They were detained, taken to the Atmore Police Department for questioning, and ultimately released.
Police were unable to interview the two men who were injured for several days due to the severity of their condition, but in the interim interviewed witnesses and also viewed surveillance footage which together provided investigators with “a clear picture of the incident.”
Additionally, within the last few days police were finally able to question the two men, although they both remain in intensive care — the man found in the parking lot suffering from a punctured lung, bruising across both eyes and cheeks and currently paralyzed from the waist down.
Both men have had multiple surgeries and face “a long road to recovery,” according to Atmore police.
After presenting the evidence to the Escambia County District Attorney, it was determined the man who was found inside the Tractor Supply will be charged with 1st-degree assault once he is released from the hospital.
Atmore police have declined to release either man’s identity.
