PRINCETON, Texas — An off-duty firefighter chief is among the two recovering tonight after being stabbed at a Wal-Mart employee.
One of the victims was an off-duty Battalion Chief George Wesley Cook of McKinney Fire Department. He is expected to make a full recovery after surgery Wednesday.
Cook was slashed across the throat. Witnesses told ABC 8 News that Cook still gave aid to the other stab victim while bleeding from his neck.
“These individuals put their lives on the line daily for us,” said Chief James Waters of the Princeton Police Department. “Whenever we see one of them hurt, injured living their everyday normal lives, our hearts really go out to them.”
According to the Princeton Police Department, Nicolas Martinez, 20, was arrested and charged of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Waters said that 200 to 300 customers and Wal-Mart employees were evacuated from the store. In the middle of what he described as a chaotic situation, Waters says an off-duty Dallas police officer helped evacuate the store and maintain witnesses.
Martinez was arrested in a field approximately 150 yards away from the store’s entrance. The motive behind the attack is still unknown.