Two children, a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old, were attacked outside a Dollar Tree store in Mill Creek, Washington.
This city is roughly 20 miles northeast of Seattle. The Post Millennial says the two boys called a man an NPC before the attack. The NPC insult originates back to video games. It stands for non-playable character, and the man took great offense.
Local news reports that the 11-year-old boy was stabbed in the lung by the man. It caused his lung to collapse, and his liver also collapsed. He was treated at Providence Regional Medical Center and moved to the Harborview Medical Centers ICU for three days. The identity of the boy has not been released due to his age.
Urban Dictionary also notes that NPC can be understood to refer to someone who cannot think or behave independently.
Joshua David Pence, 29, was arrested on two counts of assault with a weapon. He was booked into Snohomish County Jail with a bail of $500,000 set for him.
The victims were at the Thomas Lake Shopping Center when the man approached them.
13-year-old Joshua Federov said: He was at the crosswalk and we were on the hill at the dollar store, and then we yelled NPC and he jaywalked across the street and then started chasing us into the dollar store.
He also said: Were going to be fine if we just run into the dollar store. Thats what I thought. When I saw him pull out a knife, I realized it wasnt a joke.
The boys ran into the Dollar Tree store, but the suspect began to stab the 11-year-old boy. Customers and staff in the store intervened and were able to detain Pence until police could arrive on the scene.
The 11-year-olds mother, Shanai Rowton, described her sons wounds. She said he got oxygen; they had just given him a unit of blood because he lost blood. She also set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to help get his continued medical treatment.
NBC reports from local stations in the area say that the suspect was unknown to the victims in this case.
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