GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Police fatally shot a man suspected of stabbing an employee on the University of Florida campus.
On Monday around 7 a.m., Michael Cravey, 28, approached a couple in a parking lot behind the university’s Leigh Hall. The suspect then stabbed the man and fled the scene in his jeep, the University Herald reports.
Authorities said the suspect did not know the victim, GTN News reports.
After the stabbing, Cravey sped through campus. He then left campus, travelling at a high rate of speed and driving northbound on the southbound side of a nearby thoroughfare. Campus police then stopped pursuing the suspect due to public safety concerns.
About three hours later the suspect was spotted again and was pursued by Gainesville Police. Cravey then crashed into another vehicle at an intersection and walked to a nearby shopping plaza. When an officer approached the suspect, Cravey began to charge at him with a hatchet, prompting the officer to fire several rounds.
Cravey and his victim were taken to UF Health Shands Hospital. The stabbing victim has been released from the hospital. Cravey, on the other hand, died in the facility shortly after the shooting.