Witnesses describe incident as ‘shocking,’ but classes continue as normal
The man who allegedly cut a student’s throat before stabbing himself in front of the UMC Monday morning has a long criminal history that includes attempted murder and assault.
According to a Colorado Bureau of Investigations report, Kenton Astin’s record includes charges of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a controlled substance, assault and felony menacing. On all these charges, Astin was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
View Astin’s full criminal history here.
Other charges include larceny and trespassing.
Carlos Garcia, director of the UMC, confirmed Monday afternoon that Astin was a former employee of the UMC. Garcia said the man worked as a cashier about five months ago, and that he was quiet and did his job well.
Astin was hired for a 6-month temporary job, and Garcia said he was not informed of Astin’s criminal history by the Chinook Clubhouse, the agency that helps transition mentally ill individuals into the workforce.
“We don’t screen all of our employees. It depends entirely on the sensitivity of the work they will be doing,” Garcia said. “Security? Yes. Driving? Yes. Busing tables? No.”
The university has worked with the Clubhouse for 17 years, Garcia said, and there has never been a problem in the past.
Records show Astin, 39, previously used several aliases, including the name Dylan Klebold, one of the shooters at Columbine High School in April 1999. One student who saw this morning’s incident said Astin was yelling about Columbine.
Records show Astin changed his name from Sin Metri to Kenton Astin in 1999. He wrote on the paperwork that the request for the name change was to avoid his alcoholic father.
CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said Astin, 39, of 19th Street in Boulder, ran up to the UMC terrace around 9:40 a.m. today, where he brandished what witnesses said looked like a steak knife. He allegedly cut Michael Knorps’ throat before stabbing himself.
Astin’s vehicle was parked outside of the UMC. Hilliard said the bomb squad cleared the vehicle and that no bomb-making equipment was found inside. The vehicle was towed around 11:30 a.m.
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Prior to being subdued, the suspect, allegedly at sight of the police officer, stabbed himself repeatedly in the chest.
Knorps, 17, is a freshman finance major from Illinois. He is reported to be in stable condition. Hilliard said school officials have notified the student’s parents. It is not known which hospital the student has been taken to.
Roommates at Astin’s home on 19th Street said it is a residence for the mentally ill.
Astin’s roommate Pete Boger, 59, said Astin drives a gray Jeep.
“He’s a straight arrow, he’s never done anything bizarre,” Boger said. “He’s pretty busy . He keeps his head above water.”
Astin’s bedroom within the home was sparsely furnished with a single twin bed and dresser. Also inside was stereo equipment, an electronic keyboard and a portable CD player.
Teresa Hernandez, a Thornton resident who works in the UMC, had just gotten off the bus and was walking up the UMC terrace when she saw a “man in a loud voice ranting about Jesus.”
She said the man then began stabbing himself “deliberately and slow,” and it was then that she saw the injured student lying on a bench nearby, holding his neck and looking “shocked.”
“You could see people kind of laughing, because I think they just thought, ‘Oh, he’s just a crazy guy going on about religion,'” she said. “I don’t think they knew he was stabbing himself.”
Hernandez called police, as did other students nearby.
“When they came, another cop at some point came and kind of blindsided the guy and started Tasering him, so I saw that too,” she said. “It was pretty awful. He was a big guy. I think he was just able to take that pain, and he was also just running on adrenaline.”
Hernandez said she believed police Tasered him several times before the man fell.
Boulder resident Joshua Williams, 25, also witnessed the scene in front of the UMC, and said he saw a man run up to a student shouting that it was the end of the world. The man then began stabbing himself repeatedly in the stomach.
“It was crazy. I knew it was serious when I saw blood and a knife,” Williams said.
Traffic on northbound Broadway was diverted for several blocks around the UMC for about two hours this morning, but the roads have since been reopened.
“I’ve learned that I live in a world where things like this happen,” said Williams. “I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.”
Hilliard commented at a press conference about the incident.
“This is obviously not the kind of climate we’d like to have on the first day of classes,” Hilliard said. “We’re very fortunate the law enforcement was able to respond immediately.”
CU’s new emergency alert text message system, implemented just last week, was put to the test today.
The text message, sent at 10:19 a.m. from the university’s alert system to students who have registered for the service, read, “Alert: From CU Police ??? stabbing at UMC at 9:43 AM ??? suspect in custody, UMC terrace & Euclid St closed for several hours. More info la.”
The message appears to cut off.
Stay tuned to http://www.thecampuspress.com throughout the day for updates on this breaking news story.
