FREDERICTON – A 31-year-old man has been charged with assault and aggravated assault following an attack at a Fredericton college involving a machete-style knife.
The municipal public safety department says Luke Thomas Powers of Fredericton was charged after three people were found injured in a crimonology class at Eastern College on Monday.
Debra Johns, the vice-president of campus operations for the school, says the incident will weigh on the minds of the people involved for a long time, and the college must heal together.
“Our biggest concern right now is the safety of our entire Eastern College community,” she said. “There are a few heroes in the story…at this point in time, it’s a little too fresh, but you’ll be hearing more from us on that point.”
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One of the heroes is Peter MacLean, an information technology student at the college. He heard the screaming and moving desks on the floor above him, and went to help.
MacLean is from a military background and said once he got to the situation, there were two injured students trying to hold Powers to the ground.
He took over from there and was able to contain the suspect so the knife could be taken from his hand.
MacLean said he held Powers for about five minutes while he waited for police to arrive. During that time, MacLean tried to talk him down.
“I said, ‘Have you taken anything?’ He admitted to smoking some stuff or whatever, some weed,” he said.
MacLean said he asked Powers where the knife came from, and found out he used it for camping.
“But that was just his answers to my questions, which helped because he stopped fighting and stopped struggling as much,” said MacLean.
“If I was to say he seemed something, he seemed confused. And he also asked me to apologize to the class, which I thought was unusual, because he said he didn’t know what was going on.”
Powers will remain in police custody until Feb. 7.
No new information has been released about the incident by police.
The college is scheduled to reopen Wednesday, and grief counselors will be on site.
*with files from The Canadian Press
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