GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 28-year-old suspect in a stabbing on the University of Florida campus early Monday morning died after he was shot during a confrontation with an officer, according to the Gainesville Police Department
WJXT reports at about 7 a.m., police say Michael Cravey approached a husband and wife who were sitting in their car in the Leigh Hall parking lot. Leigh Hall is the chemistry-pharmacy building.
Recommended Videos
Police said they had a brief discussion, then the suspect got knife from his vehicle and stabbed the victim. The man was taken to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville. His wife was uninjured.
Police said the stabbing suspect fled in a black Jeep.
Soon after the incident Gainesville police spotted the suspect's vehicle and began a pursuit. When the suspect began driving the wrong way on a major highway, police say they deemed it 'too dangerous' to continue the pursuit.
Shortly after 10 a.m., a Gainesville officer saw the man they have now identified as Cravey in the parking lot of the Best Buy on Southwest Archer Road in Gainesville. When the officer approached, Cravey raised a hatchet, refused orders to drop the weapon and advanced. The officer fired, hitting the Cravey multiple times, according to GPD.
Cravey was taken to UF Health/Shands, where he died about an hour later. The officer involved wasn't named, but Gainesville police say he was a ranking, veteran officer.
"Our officers are asked to do a very difficult job and make decisions in a fraction of a second," Gainesville Police Department spokesman Ben Tobias said. "Today, our officer had to make a decision that saved his own life, and possibly others against a suspect that had already hurt another person."
Because it is spring break, few students are on campus this week.