VANCOUVER, WA (KPTV) -
Bystanders helped restrain a man suspected of stabbing two people outside a Starbucks coffee shop.
It happened at 11502 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd at 4:50 p.m. on Monday.
Scott C. Fandrich, 55, was arrested on two counts of first-degree assault.
A friend of one victim, who identified herself as Denise, said the suspect approached them outside the coffee shop while they were talking about the victim's vehicle.
"It was just like, this is guy is giving me the creeps, man," she said. "You know how you get that feeling about people?"
Denise said they move into the coffee shop to get away from the suspect, but he followed them into the store.
At the suspect's request, the victim checked his minivan. She said the suspect then followed her friend back to his car and attacked him when her friend asked him to leave him alone.
"Then he pulls out a knife and starts stabbing him, and people just all over the place started coming out, everywhere, and trying to help," Denise said. "And the guy, after he stabbed my friend, tried to walk away from it, for God's sake."
A group of bystanders grabbed Fandrich, disarmed him and held him down until police arrived. Others rushed to help Denise's friend and another man, who witnesses say was stabbed while trying to intervene.
"It's scary, but I'm glad to see that citizens will jump in to help," said Alyssa Case, who helped apply pressure to one victim's stab wounds until paramedics arrived. "For me, that was cool to see because you always hear, ‘Oh, someone else will do it.' Well, in this case they jumped in right away, and I think that was really cool."
One victim, Denise's friend, remained in the hospital Monday night. The bystander who was injured was released after being evaluated.
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