An Oak Ridge man was allegedly stabbed in the back with a sword on Friday night after a fist fight at Van Hicks Place, according to Anderson County court records.
Jeffrey John Smith, 30, of Van Hicks Place, is accused of stabbing Michael Showalter, who was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with a stab wound that punctured his lung, an arrest warrant said. Showalter survived, Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi said Monday morning.
Smith has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault, and he remained in the Anderson County Jail on Monday morning.
Smith told Oak Ridge Police Department Detective John Hill that Showalter had knocked him to the ground during the fist fight at about 9:15 p.m. Friday at a Van Hicks Place apartment. That fight reportedly started when Showalter attempted to keep Smith from assaulting a woman identified as Katie Cagley, according to warrants.
After the fight was over, Showalter went outside to a back porch with everyone except Smith, the records said.
The records said Smith told police he retrieved a sword from his bedroom and went to the back porch, where he lunged at Showalter, stabbing him in the back.
Showalter told police he ran toward the YWCA west of Van Hicks Place after being stabbed, and Smith allegedly chased Showalter, sword in hand, and “slashed at him,” a warrant said.
Ashley Bray, who has the same Johnson Road address as Showalter, said she took him to Methodist Medical Center before he was taken to UT Medical Center.
Late Friday night, Oak Ridge police officers had blocked the entrance to the Van Hicks Lane and Van Hicks Place development and strung up crime scene tape across much of the front of the public housing complex and around a pavilion. Officers could be seen searching the ground at the west side of the development, near the YWCA, and appeared to be collecting evidence.
On Sunday evening and Monday afternoon, spokeswomen at the UT Medical Center said Showalter was no longer listed as a patient at the hospital, although there were reports that he had readmitted himself.
The Oak Ridger reported Sunday afternoon that Showalter was in critical but stable condition.
Note: This story replaces an article published Sunday night.
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