The man police say attacked a person on University of Virginia Grounds with a knife on Thursday afternoon is now in custody.
The man’s name has not been released to the public, but he has been described as a middle-aged white male.
Police and UVa officials have confirmed there was a single stabbing victim who was transported to UVa Medical Center. The hospital listed the individual in critical condition as of Thursday evening. The person’s identity has not been disclosed.
“Neither the suspect, nor the victim, has any known affiliation with the University of Virginia,” UVa spokeswoman Bethanie Glover said in a statement issued after the suspect’s arrest.
According to police scanner activity, officers were first alerted at around 4:35 p.m. to a knife attack at 1908 Lewis Mountain Road, home to the Wesley Foundation at UVa, a Methodist ministry.
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Charlottesville police lead the man suspected of a knife attack on University of Virginia Grounds to a police car on Thursday on Stribling Avenue on the border of the city's Jefferson Park Avenue and Fifeville neighborhoods.
UVa police issued an emergency alert to the UVa community at 4:49 p.m. reporting an “active attacker” in the vicinity of 100 Emmet St. S near Alumni Hall on Grounds.
Those in the area were urged to “RUN HIDE FIGHT.” A shelter-in-place order was issued shortly thereafter and was lifted at 5:44 p.m. after the suspect was detained.
The suspect was arrested outside 215 Stribling Ave. on the border of Charlottesville’s Jefferson Park Avenue and Fifeville neighborhoods, about 1 1/2 miles from where the attack was first reported.
Although an earlier emergency alert said the suspect was wearing a red, hooded sweatshirt, white shirt, blue pants and white shoes, The Daily Progress witnessed the man being taken into custody and he was wearing a white T-shirt and shoes and blue UVa sweatpants rolled up to the calf.
Officers on the radio reported earlier in the afternoon, “UPD found the sweatshirt behind Halsey Hall in a trash can.” Officers were instructed to preserve the sweatshirt as evidence.
Charlottesville police congregate along Stribling Avenue on the border of the city's Fifeville and Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhoods, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, after taking a man into custody suspected of a knife attack on University of Virginia Grounds.
Halsey Hall, home to the UVa Department of Statistics, is at 148 Amphitheater Way, 0.6 miles south of where the attack was reported and 0.7 miles south of Alumni Hall where the suspect was reported seen.
A witness at the scene of the arrest told The Daily Progress the suspect was taken into custody without incident.
A police officer approached the man and ordered him to “Stop what you’re doing. Get on the ground.”
“He talked him out of it and brought him down to his knees,” recounted the witness, who declined to provide his name. “No shooting, no firing, no knees on the neck, nothing.”
Charlottesville police guide the man suspected of a knife attack on University of Virginia Grounds into a police car, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, on Stribling Avenue on the border of the city's Jefferson Park Avenue and Fifeville neighborhoods.
He said it took all of one minute for the suspect to surrender to the officer.
“The guy goes right on his knees, and they cuff him and he’s done,” he said. “It was actually pretty uneventful.”
This is the second time in a week the UVa community has been urged to shelter in place. On Tuesday, Grounds was shut down for hours as police combed the area for a fugitive with known gang ties who had fled an off-Grounds traffic stop earlier in the day. That fugitive remains on the run.
