NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A couple is in critical condition after being attacked with a machete at a Public Storage facility in Tennessee on Sunday.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department says Kelvin Edwards, 35, attacked husband and wife Kevin and Leanne Craft with the machete inside a building near downtown around 2:45 p.m.
Officers describe the attack as "callous, unprovoked, and random."
Police say Edwards, who is homeless, got the machete from his bin at the facility.
“Edwards entered the office and, without warning, repeatedly struck the victims with his machete, even after they were on the floor badly bleeding,” police wrote in a press release.
In an in interview with detectives, police say Edwards expressed anger about the COVID-19 shutdowns and an inability to get into the Rescue Mission.
“It appears Edwards retrieved the machete from his bin and explained that he decided to demonstrate his anger in the violent attack on the Crafts, who he did not know,” said police.
Edwards surrendered to officers as they approached the scene at about 2:50 p.m. He was then arrested on two counts of attempted murder.
Police say six officers used their trauma care training to apply multiple tourniquets to the victims in an effort to control the bleeding and save their lives. The couple was then transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center, where they remain in critical condition.
This wasn’t Edwards’ first run-in with the law. Police say the suspect was convicted of felony vandalism in 2017 and, while in jail, was charged with deliberately spitting on two sheriff’s deputies. He was convicted of two counts of assault as a result.
This story was originally published by staff at WTVF.
