Baltimore Officer Brutally Attacked, Stabbed In The Face
BALTIMORE (WJZ)--A Baltimore City police officer is stabbed overnight, and a 20-year-old man is charged with attempted murder.
Pat Warren has the details.
The call came in from a security officer in the lobby of The Varsity Apartments located on W. Biddle Street, housing mostly University of Baltimore students. He heard a disturbance between a male and female in a 2nd floor apartment.
"He knocks on the door, the male voice then threatened him. Actually his exact words were 'Leave or I will cut you,'" said Major Stanley Brandford.
When police arrive the suspect is heading out of the lobby.
"Almost immediately the security guard recognized who he was and yelled to the officer he had a knife - by that time the attack was on," Brandford said.
The suspect is identified as 20-year-old James Goss, charged with attempted murder and assault.
Interim Commissioner Davis says, "Our police officer, a 15-year veteran with a little girl at home put himself in harm's way to ensure James Goss didn't hurt anyone else. What resulted was a brutal attack on our officer by a man hell-bent to kill him. By the grace of god our police officer survived this brutal attack thanks to his courageous BPD partner, a brave security guard and a couple of fast-thinking BPD cops who threw our police officer."
The officer was stabbed in the face, neck, and upper torso. Interim commissioner Kevin Davis expressed outrage at the incident.
"Nearly stabbing to death and disfiguring a police officer is not an acceptable outcome for police officers who respond to 9-1-1 calls for service," Davis said."Protecting and serving does not mean it's ok for a cop to be a victim of a violent attack by a deranged knife-wielding predator."
According to charging documents Goss was staying with the woman in the apartment and the fight started over the keys.
According to charging documents, the woman was punched in the face and put into a choke hold when she attempted to leave the apartment. She sustained injuries to her face and arms.
The officer's name has not yet been released.
Police say during the incident Goss also bit the security officer in the calf.
