BOULDER, Colo.—A freshman was slashed in the throat on the University of Colorado campus on his first day of classes Monday by an incoherent man who then began stabbing himself, school officials said.
The student, Michael George Knorps, 17, of Winnetka, Ill., underwent surgery to repair damaged tissue in his neck but was doing well, university spokesman Bronson Hilliard said.
The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Kenton Drew Astin, worked at CU last year as a cashier at the Alferd Packer Grill at the student center. He was arrested and hospitalized Monday with serious stab wounds, the school said.
Astin was sent to a state mental hospital in 2001 after being accused of stabbing a 21-year-old Longmont man. Court records show Astin pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on charges including attempted first-degree murder in that case.
Hilliard said there was no sign the school had performed a background check on Astin, who was hired through a program run by the county mental health center.
“Had we been aware at that time, obviously that would have been a huge red flag,” he said of the charges.
Astin left his job in April because his temporary contract was over and officials didn’t know of any incidents involving him at the school since then.
According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Astin’s aliases include Dylan Klebold, the name of one of the gunmen who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999.
CU Chancellor Bud Peterson said policies on background checks would be changed immediately. Hilliard also said seven other people hired through the same program as Astin have been suspended as the school investigates.
The university said Astin drove to the campus, walked to a terrace outside the student center and then showed a knife while talking or yelling incoherently.
He grabbed Knorps from behind and cut his throat but he broke free, the school said.
A Boulder city police officer and a sheriff’s deputy who were nearby rushed the scene, and campus officers arrived shortly after that, Hilliard said.
When officers ordered Astin to drop the knife, he began stabbing himself, so police stunned him with a Taser and arrested him, the school said.
The university used its new emergency text-messaging service to alert students to the attack.
