Austin, Texas: Man in Zombie Costume Charged in Buzz Mill Coffee Stabbing

A 20 year old man dressed in a Halloween costume stabbed two people at a southeast Austin coffee shop on Wednesday night, police said, and both victims were in stable condition by Thursday afternoon after one of them was first reported with life threatening injuries.

Austin police identified the suspect as Shankar Temple Grace. He faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was booked into the Travis County Jail, where FOX 7 Austin reported he remained on Thursday afternoon.

What happened at Buzz Mill

Officers responded to Buzz Mill Coffee at 1505 Town Creek Drive, in the East Riverside area, just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, for a disturbance call that police classified as a disturbance hot shot, a rapidly escalating altercation involving an immediate threat to life or serious injury. The stabbing happened shortly before a local comedy show was scheduled to begin at the coffee shop and bar, according to CBS Austin reporting carried by Fox News.

Officers and Austin Travis County EMS found two people with stab wounds. Both were taken to a hospital, one with life threatening injuries and the other with non life threatening injuries. Police said on Thursday that both were in stable condition.

A witness told police the man was dressed as a zombie, with his face covered in makeup, according to CBS Austin. People at the coffee shop also told police the man had caused disturbances at the business before Wednesday night, though authorities did not provide details about any earlier incidents.

Flight and arrest

Police said Grace fled in a pickup truck at high speed and struck an unoccupied Tesla Cybercab, an autonomous vehicle, as he left the area. Officers searched for him and found him on a walking trail near Rosewood and Chestnut avenues, about three miles from the coffee shop, where he was taken into custody.

Grace was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second degree felony, according to police accounts carried by KTSA and Fox News.

Police did not release a motive. Detectives are investigating whether Grace knew either of the two people who were stabbed, KTSA reported, and police have not released the names of the victims.

Anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact the Austin Police Department Aggravated Assault unit at 512-974-5245, FOX 7 Austin reported.

The case arrives in the middle of Halloween week in Austin, when coffee shops, bars and comedy rooms across the East Riverside corridor run late night costume crowds. Police have said nothing that connects the costume to a motive, and the costume detail comes from witnesses who were inside the shop when the disturbance started.