Colorado Student Stabbed in Knife Attack

Student Injured in Knife Attack

University of Colorado (compiled by Gazette.com)

A freshman was slashed in the throat on the University of Colorado campus Monday by an incoherent man who then began stabbing himself, school officials said.

The student underwent surgery and was "holding his own," university spokesman Bronson Hilliard said. The suspect, a man in his 50s, was arrested and hospitalized with serious stab wounds, the school said.

Neither man's name or hometown was released, but Hilliard said the student was from Illinois. The student was conscious after the attack and had spoken to family members by phone, Hilliard said.

The university said the man drove to the campus, walked to a terrace outside the student center and then showed a knife while talking or yelling incoherently.

He grabbed the student from behind and cut his throat, the school said. The student broke free.

A Boulder city police officer and a sheriff's deputy who were nearby rushed the scene, and campus officers arrived shortly after that, Hilliard said.

When officers ordered the man to drop the knife, he began stabbing himself, so police stunned him with a Taser and arrested him, the school said.

Monday was the first day of school, and the university used its new emergency text-messaging service to alert students to the attack, Hilliard said.