NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A man has been charged in connection to a stabbing that happened Wednesday morning.
Gamal Pennyfeather
Around 8 a.m., police were called by several frantic residents from the Maple Point apartments in the 300 block of Judy Drive saying one of their neighbors was terrorizing the complex, attacking people with a machete.
Neighbors say 26-year-old Gamal Pennyfeather had lived in his apartment for years and never caused any trouble.
"Very much to himself, he's been quiet the whole time," neighbor Alonzo Tinsley said.
According to police, they were first notified about a disturbance around 2 a.m.
"He was upset about something, lord knows what he was upset about. He started throwing TV's, electronics, glass, food, everything he was throwing out," neighbor John Turner said.
Neighbors say police were unable to reach him, so they left.
Police say around 8 a.m., Pennyfeather started a fire outside his apartment.
That's when the real terror began for the neighborhood.
Police say he kicked out a 54-year-old woman's window, he told her he was going to kill her and started swinging the machete through the window.
Next, police say, he ran upstairs.
When a 50-year-old woman opened her door, police say Pennyfeather stabbed her in the stomach.
She was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries, but it didn't end there.
"The mail lady pulls up in the mail truck he approaches her as he is talking to the mail lady where her door is open and as he is talking to her I see him lunging towards her and I hear her scream," neighbor Leslie Davis said.
Police say he told the 30-year-old postal worker he "wanted her life."
She was able to get away safely. But before police could arrive, Pennyfeather attacked one more victim inside his home.
"He attacked another person down here at the end of the street and then the police came and apprehended him," Tinsley said.
The 73-year-old victim was taken to the hospital with a wound on his side and multiple cuts to his hands from trying to fight off Pennyfeather.
Pennyfeather now faces several charges including unlawful wounding, arson and burglary. The motive is still unknown.
