Police say man attacked married couple with machete because he was angry over coronavirus shutdowns
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A homeless man was charged with two counts of attempted murder Sunday after he attacked a husband and wife with a machete because he was angry over shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, according to police.
Metro Nashville Police said in a release that Kelvin Edwards, 35, randomly attacked the couple as they waited as customers inside the office of a Public Storage warehouse.
He told police that he was frustrated by the coronavirus pandemic and that he could not enter the Nashville Rescue Mission, so he demonstrated his anger in a violent act on people he did not know. Rescue Mission, an organization that serves homeless people, has remained open to individuals without shelter during the pandemic, according to its website.
Kevin Craft, 55, and Leanne Craft, 50, were in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after six police officers applied multiple tourniquets. Police said Edwards continued to strike the victims, even after they were on the floor badly bleeding.
According to the release, Edwards had a bin at the storage facility, which apparently contained the machete. Police received the emergency call at 2:47 p.m. After the attack, Edwards walked out of the storage facility, tossed the machete down and stood in the street with his hands raised.
Police said Edwards carried an Arkansas driver's license with a Little Rock address. But he has been in Nashville since at least 2016, when he was arrested.
In 2017, he was convicted of felony vandalism. While in jail, Edwards was charged with deliberately spitting on two Davidson County sheriff’s deputies, for which he was convicted on two counts of assault.
Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville machete attack: Man was angry about coronavirus, police say
