Stabbing attack on Calif. musicians probed as hate crime
SACRAMENTO -- Police are investigating an attack on three Sacramento musicians as a hate crime, reports CBS Sacramento.
Timothy Brownell was originally charged with felony assault in the Sunday attack, and released on bail Monday, but police are now searching for the 25-year-old in order to arrest him again.
Police say after further investigation, they determined that Brownell yelled an anti-gay slur before stabbing the musicians outside a bar.
A Facebook post Monday by victim Blake Abbey, lead singer of the local band Musical Charis, detailed the incident. Abbey said in the post -- which accompanies a photo of the singer in a hospital bed -- that he and two other musicians were leaving a bar when they were approached by two men who yelled the slur because they were wearing tight jeans.
The suspect then attacked, and Abbey was stabbed several times, according to police. Abbey and one other victim remain hospitalized.
"We did nothing to provoke them. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. My arm was completely mangled by a 7-to-8-inch Rambo knife," Abbey wrote on Facebook. Photos posted by Abbey Tuesday show three long, deep stab wounds on his arms.
Officers converged on Brownell's apartment late Monday afternoon, but the suspect was not found has yet to be arrested.
A Sacramento police spokesperson told 48 Hours' Crimesider that police expect to make an arrest soon.
"It's just a matter of making contact with him and making the arrest," the spokesperson said.