Durham man stabs 4 women before being fatally shot by a Tennessee deputy, cops say

Ashad Hajela
·2 min read

A Durham truck driver was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies in Knoxville, Tenn., Tuesday morning after they say he stabbed four women at a truck stop.

Three of the women — employees of the Pilot Travel Center — have died while the fourth, a customer, is being treated at a hospital, according to a statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The driver has been identified as Idris Abdus-Salaam, 33, of Durham, according to the TBI.

When deputies with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Pilot Travel Center off Interstate 40 about 7 a.m., they saw at least one person with stab wounds outside the store, the TBI said in a release. At least one other victim was inside the store, reported the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Witnesses identified Abdus-Salaam as the suspect, said Leslie Earhart, a public information officer with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

He was holding a knife, according to the TBI. Officers confronted him, but he refused to drop the weapon, Earhart said in the statement.

At some point, one of the officers fired at Abdus-Salaam, according to the TBI statement. Abdus-Salaam was pronounced dead at the scene.

The TBI is investigating the shooting involving the officer.

Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler surveys the scene of a multi-victim stabbing with Jimmy Haslam, CEO of Pilot, left, in hat, at the scene of a stabbing at a Pilot truck stop on Strawberry Plains Pike in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. A man fatally stabbed three employees and wounded a customer at a Tennessee rest stop and travel center Tuesday morning before a deputy shot and killed him, authorities said.

The employees were were also pronounced dead at the scene. They are identified as Joyce Whaley, 57, Patricia Denise Nibbe, 51, and Nettie R. Spencer, 41. The customer’s condition is unknown.

“Today is a difficult day for the Pilot Company family,” the company said in a statment, according to ABC11, The News & Observer’s media partner. “We are devastated to confirm the loss of three team members and the injury of a guest after an act of violence at our Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, location this morning. It is with heavy hearts that we extend our deepest sympathy to the families and loved ones of the victims.”