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HERRIMAN — A 17-year-old is in critical condition after police say his friend stabbed him with a sword during a sleepover early Saturday morning.
"It was a tragic, very uncommon and strange event," Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said, but he added that it could have had a deadly ending if it weren't for the aid of several firefighters who helped an officer subdue a violent suspect.
Bell said it happened just before 6 a.m. when police were dispatched to a home near 7000 West and Long Ridge Drive.
He said the victim was laying in his bed when his longtime friend, also 17, took a sword from the victim's blade collection and ran it through his abdomen.
Police aren't sure if the victim was awake when it happened, Bell said.
"The question of the day is: Why did this happen? The two had been friends for years, as I understand it," the lieutenant said.
The victim's parents ran into the room when they heard a commotion.
"When the father gets in the room, the suspect is trying to get another weapon to stab the victim again, it sounds like," Bell said. "So the father grabbed him and there was a physical altercation."
The mother called 911, and an officer arrived minutes later and ran inside, the lieutenant said.
The officer tried to stop the suspect with a Taser, but it was ineffective. Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said on Facebook that the teen was "combative and apparently intoxicated."
"So (the officer) was forced to grab onto the suspect and try to physically restrain him and get him into handcuffs, but the suspect fought extremely hard," Bell said. "It turned into quite a fight."
Fortunately, Bell said, Unified firefighters — who were waiting outside for an all-clear signal from the officer — heard the struggle and ran inside.
"Thankfully they made the decision to go in anyway, and by doing that they absolutely saved the life of our victim and very well could have saved the life of the suspect," he said. "Who knows what direction that could have gone."
Bell said the firefighters helped the officer overpower the suspect and subdue him in handcuffs. He credited them with saving not only the victim — who was "losing blood by the second" — but also potentially saving the lives of the officer and the victim's family.
"As much grief as firemen and police officers give each other, in this case the firemen were the true heroes. We're grateful for them," Bell said.
The teen who was stabbed was flown to a hospital in extremely critical condition, but surgeons were able to stabilize him and they expect he will recover, Bell reported.
As for the suspect, the lieutenant said he was transported to a hospital to be "evaluated" before being booked into detention for investigation aggravated assault or attempted homicide.
Narcotics are being investigated a possible contributing factor, Bell said.
"At this point I don't know the answer, but I do know that one of the main things they're looking at is (if) this was caused by drugs," he said. "He was obviously having some sort of psychotic episode."
Bell said he's grateful it appears the victim will recover.
"And we're extremely grateful to the Unified Fire Authority for ably coming into a situation that was not secure and risking their own lives to save our victim, our officer and that family," he said.
