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I guess it could have been worse. This guy stabbed an Indian several times in the Macys store at Fiesta Mall. The next day the same guy stabbed another Indian to death in the restroom of the food court at Fiesta Mall. The initial newspaper reports say the stabbing may have been racist, but the more I read it the guy just seems wacko!
I should consider my self lucky because those Black guys didn’t beat me to death.
March 31, 2008 - 10:31PM Man stabbed to death at Mesa’s Fiesta Mall Katie McDevitt, Tribune To some, it looked like a sick joke. A man —— dressed nicely and showing no emotion —— walked calmly Monday afternoon out of Mesa’s Fiesta Mall clutching an 8-inch blood-coated butcher knife. But what onlookers didn’t realize was that just inside the food court bathroom lay the body of a man —— slain at random. His suspected killer, a convicted murderer who police believe stabbed and wounded another man at the same mall one day prior. Police didn’t inform the public of Sunday’s stabbing until hours before their suspect found his next victim on Monday morning. But authorities defended their actions, saying they didn’t develop enough information to release sooner. “I don’t know that there was much to notify the public of yesterday,” said Mesa police Chief George Gascón at a press conference Monday afternoon in the parking lot of the mall. “It wouldn’t have made any difference to the public if we were just putting a primitive description out. It would’ve been premature.” Following Monday’s killing, police took a man into custody about 1 p.m. in connection with the crime. The man went without incident after stoically walking out of the mall holding the weapon. In the bathroom, mall security found the body of 31-year-old Issurah Jackson with multiple stab wounds, including one to his back, Gascón said. Evidence showed he had tried to put up a fight. Police were still conducting interviews late Monday night, so possible charges weren’t available. Also, police said they wouldn’t release the suspect’s name until after photo lineups were completed. Investigators discovered the suspect had been out of prison for two years, after serving six years with the Arizona Department of Corrections for murder. Also, the man is linked to gangs and has a history of mental health problems. Mall employee Deborah Lipscomb, 44, said she and her colleagues were sitting outside a mall entrance on a smoke break when a man emerged. “Out comes this guy...he came out holding a knife and it looked like it had blood on it. He had absolutely no emotion on his face,” Lipscomb said. “We were just looking at each other and kind of laughing because we thought it was a joke. He just sat down and put the knife down next to him.” Gascón said there was no witness to the crime and the very nature of the victim’s slaying was random. Police said the suspect had purchased the butcher knife from a mall store just before the killing, but they don’t believe he knew his victim. Although the assailant didn’t try to flee from Monday’s stabbing, he did escape police the day before following the alleged stabbing of a 22-year-old man who was walking through Macy’s men’s department about 2 p.m. Sunday, Gascón said. The victim in that stabbing said he looked in the suspect’s direction as they passed, at which time the man turned around, grabbed him from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a knife. “What are you doing? I don’t even know you,” the victim said to the suspect, police said. But the suspect replied by stabbing the victim in the shoulder three times, according to police. Shopper Rose Medina, who was leaving the mall Monday afternoon, said crime tape blocked off the rest rooms and officers stood guard in the area. About 80 people dined in the food court, despite investigators shuffling in and out of the area. “We knew something really bad must have happened,” Medina said. Business owner Sue Georges, of Body Language dance store, said she was never informed of Sunday’s stabbing, even though she enters her business routinely through one of Macy’s entrances. Georges said she was dumbfounded that no one told her about the first stabbing, which ended in the slaying the next day. “I’m just shocked that this happened here,” Georges said. “It’s amazing that I didn’t hear anything.” But despite the recent acts of random violence, property manager Mike Jorgenson called the mall a “Safe shopping environment” and added that mall management regularly meets with Mesa police and will be meeting again soon. Mesa police Cmdr. Joe Shelley said late last year the city added bicycle officers back into the mall area to patrol and that off-duty officers work on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the shopping center. “We are riding them on the outside of the mall, we’d like to have (them) on the inside of the mall to be honest with you,” Shelley said. “I think if you see officers there, it’s a crime deterrent and people feel safer around the mall.” Shelley said that the area in and around the mall is actually not a high area for crimes like robberies, stabbings and shootings, but acknowledged that police still have some challenges at hand. “We’ve still got some work ahead of us to keep improving,” he said. The stabbings came at a critical time for the Fiesta District, which has been targeted by the City of Mesa for intense revitalization. The city has commissioned consultants PMC for $250,000 to conduct a marketing study for the area, which will include tips on how to improve traffic circulation and the overall look for the area to be more consistent with the “Fiesta District” brand. City of Mesa spokesman Steve Wright said that Monday and Sunday’s incidents do not change the city’s direction to improve the Fiesta area. “We can be concerned about it, but it doesn’t change the fact that Fiesta Mall has a great company and great plans for it,” he said. “Our main message is that Fiesta Mall is a great location to shop at and we wish the activity wouldn’t have happened, but it did.” West Mesa activist and newly elected councilman Dave Richins said the city can’t react to short-term events. “You just keep things focused on the revitalization because it’s a long-term project,” Richins said. “You can’t alter your plans because something happens in the short term.” Tribune writers Lindsay Butler, Eddi Trevizo, Andrea Natekar and Mike Branom contributed to this report
Mall stabbing suspect had just seen psychiatrist Gary Grado, Tribune The man accused of killing one person and wounding another in knife attacks Sunday and Monday at Fiesta Mall told police he has been suffering from schizophrenia and blackouts, according to court records. Bernard E. Allen, 25, had been to his psychiatrist just two hours before Monday’s attack that left 31-year-old Issurah Jackson dead. Sunday’s attack left Lathaniel Brown, 22, with wounds to his neck and back. Police said Allen had been given medication at his doctor’s appointment and a prescription for more. Police said Allen told Mesa investigators he stabbed the men because they had disrespected him. “When asked if he knew what he had done was wrong, the defendant stated he did know it was wrong and did feel remorse for the victim,” police wrote in court records. In Monday’s attack, Allen bought an 8-inch cooking knife from a Fiesta Mall store for $41.60, discarded the packaging and put it in his pocket. Employees of the store reported to police that he was acting strange when he bought it. Police said the purchase was just 11 minutes before the first 911 calls. Allen and Jackson bumped into each other as they entered the bathroom near the food court. Allen said he didn’t know Jackson, but he became so angry over the contact that he stabbed Jackson as he stood at the urinal. “The defendant admitted to having an anger problem and stated the victim should not have disrespected him by bumping in the bathroom,” police wrote. He told police he couldn’t remember certain parts of the attacks because he blacked out. In Sunday’s attack, Brown was shopping at Macy’s when he passed Allen, and they made eye contact. Police said Allen then grabbed Brown around the neck and stabbed him in the throat. As Brown struggled to get free, Allen stabbed more times in the back. “During the incident the victim asked the suspect what his problem was, and the suspect stated, ‘You (expletive) disrespected me,’” police wrote. Allen went to prison in 1999 for convictions of drive-by shooting and burglary. He got out in April 2006.
Police identify attacker in Fiesta Mall stabbings
Jackee Coe and Alex Whitlatch Mesa police identified the man believe to be involved in two knife attacks at Fiesta Mall as Bernard E. Allen, 25, of Mesa. The attacks Sunday and Monday, which police say could have been motivated by race, left one man dead and another hospitalized. Police said Allen bought an 8-inch cooking knife from a mall store about 11 minutes before the first 911 call was made. According to police, Allen has a history of mental illness and served six years in prison on a murder conviction Mesa police were called to the mall at Alma School Road and U.S. 60 about 1 p.m. Monday after different witnesses called 911 after seeing a man walking through the mall with a bloody knife, police said. Officers found Allen with a knife sitting on a bench outside an entrance. Police detained Allen without incident and found the body of 31-year-old Issura Jackson in the men's restroom off the food court. The incident occurred a day after Lathaniel Clinton Brown, 22, was stabbed in the men's department at Macy's department store, police said. Brown reported being grabbed him from behind and stabbed in the neck with a knife. He turned around and said to the man, "What are you doing? I don't even know you." The assailant then stabbed the victim three times in the shoulder and fled, police said. Brown was in stable condition Monday at Scottsdale Osborne hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Both victims are Native Americans, and police said the attacks could have been motivated by race but are still investigating. The victims did not know each other or the attacker, according to police. According to police records, in an interview with investigators, Allen said that he felt "disrespected" by Jackson and had to stab him. "It's important to put this into perspective," Mesa Police Chief George Gascón said Monday. "Malls and certainly the Mesa malls are very safe and there is very good security at this mall." Police said the suspect has a criminal history and has been involved in gang activity, though they don't believe the attacks were gang-related. They said he was released two years ago from prison after serving time for murder. Bernard was booked on one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.
March 31, 2008 - 11:20AM Macy's shopper stabbed at Mesa's Fiesta Mall Mike Branom, Tribune Mesa police are searching for a man who randomly stabbed a shopper at a Fiesta Mall department store on Sunday. Police investigate Fiesta Mall homicide The victim was a 22-year-old male walking through the men’s department in Macy’s. He was hospitalized with non-life threatening wounds in the neck and shoulder, police said. Police describe the suspect as a light-skinned Hispanic man in his late 20s to early 30s, 5-foot-9 and 210 pounds. He had a shaved head, and wore a gray t-shirt with blue jeans. The suspect fled in a green late-90s model two-door sedan, with tinted windows, old black rims and no hubcaps. According to police, around 2 p.m. the suspect entered the store at 1465 W. Southern Avenue and approached the victim. The victim said he looked in the suspect’s direction as they passed, at which time the suspect turned around, grabbed him from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a knife. The victim turned around and said to the suspect, "What are you doing? I don't even know you." The suspect replied by stabbing the victim in the shoulder three times. The victim walked towards the cash register and the suspect continued to follow him. The suspect then left the store and entered a vehicle in the parking lot. Mesa police spokeswoman Diana Tapia said Monday morning there are no further details. Macy's referred all inquiries to the police. |