SALT LAKE CITY — A victim of a stabbing at a Salt Lake City Smith's Marketplace on Thursday is talking about his experience, and thanking the strangers who came to his aid.

The suspect in the violent assaults is a Vietnamese national who witnesses said was yelling, "Why did you kill all my people?" The victims of the assault want to know why Kiet Ly tried killing them.

"I think it's going to take some time to understand to what extent this has affected me," said Keltin Barney, a victim of the stabbing.

Barney stopped on Thursday afternoon at the store to buy a lock to go on a storage unit. He never got a chance to make that purchase and the others that were on his list.

It was a chaotic scene Thursday afternoon when police say Kiet Thanh Ly began randomly picking targets in the parking lot of a Smith's Marketplace located at 455 S. 500 East. As for Barney, he was headed out of Smith's back to his car — he'd forgotten his shopping list.

"I was on the phone with my girlfriend," he said. "So, I went back out to the car to get the piece of paper and someone behind me just said, 'Hey.'"

It was the voice of Ly — Barney was his first victim.

"It was pretty surreal," Barney said. "You know, I didn't feel it, really. It wasn't this instant recognition. I thought he shoved me. It was when I looked down and I saw blood everywhere that I realized I had been stabbed."

Eight times, he'd been stabbed. And at that very moment, he knew he had to run.

"I ran towards where the most people were," he said.

Stunned by the sight of a man badly bleeding, passers-by jumped to help.

"People gathered around and got me to lay down, tried to calm me down a little bit, which i think probably helped a lot," Barney said.

But Ly continued his attack on a second victim before he was stopped by a man with a conceal carry permit and the barrel of the man's gun.

"The guy that actually stopped him came to my hospital room with his family and talked to me," Barney said.

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Stabbing suspect has long criminal history

A man accused of stabbing people at random at a downtown Smith's Marketplace Thursday has a long criminal history.

He said he's been doing a lot of talking lately — with family and friends. He said it's not the violence he'll carry with him from that day, but It's the kindness that he will never forget.

"How kind people were," he said. "And how people actually really did care."

Barney, a student at the University of Utah, should be taking his finals right now. Instead, he's going to be doing a lot of physical therapy.

According to the family of the second stabbing victim, he remains in intensive care and has a long road ahead.

Ly faces two felony counts of attempted murder and four counts of aggravated assault.

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