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Winnetka teen stabbed while at school in Colorado
August 28, 2007
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOULDER, Colo.---- An incoherent man slashed the throat of a University of Colorado student during the first day of classes, then began stabbing himself, school officials said. Michael George Knorps, 17, of Winnetka, underwent surgery to repair damaged tissue in his neck but was doing well, university spokesman Bronson Hilliard said. The freshman was conscious after the attack outside CU's student center and had spoken to family members by phone, Hilliard said.
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The freshman was conscious after the attack outside CU's student center and had spoken to family members by phone, Hilliard said.
The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Kenton Drew Astin, worked at CU last year as a cashier at the Alferd Packer Grill at the student center, school officials said. He was arrested and hospitalized Monday with serious stab wounds, the school said.
Astin was sent to a state mental hospital in 2001 after being accused of stabbing a 21-year-old Longmont man. Court records show Astin pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on charges including attempted first-degree murder in that case.
Hilliard said there was no sign the school had performed a background check on Astin, who was hired through a program run by the county mental health center. Astin left his job in April because his temporary contract was over.
''Had we been aware at that time, obviously that would have been a huge red flag,'' he said of the charges.
CU Chancellor Bud Peterson said the school would immediately change its policies on background checks.
The university said Astin drove to the campus, walked to a terrace outside the student center and then showed a knife while talking or yelling incoherently.
He grabbed Knorps from behind and cut his throat before the student was able to break free.
A Boulder city police officer and a sheriff's deputy who were nearby rushed to the scene and campus officers arrived shortly after that, Hilliard said.
When officers ordered Astin to drop the knife, he began stabbing himself, so police stunned him with a Taser and arrested him, the school said.
The university used its new emergency text-messaging service to alert students to the attack, Hilliard said.
