Bloody man accused of stabbing 2 people walks into Publix with knife, Florida cops say

A bloodied man walked into a Publix store holding a knife after he was accused of stabbing two people, according to a Florida sheriff’s office.

The victims told deputies that they were at a birthday party with the man, later identified as Derrick Emery, 32, on Sept. 12 when he got drunk and the host kicked him out, according to a report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

They agreed to walk Emery home, and while walking along a parkway in Davenport, a city about 35 miles southwest of Orlando, he pulled a pocket knife out of a fanny pack, the report says.

Emery then “began stabbing both victims in an unprovoked attack,” the report says. Afterward, he ran away and shouted an expletive at them as he ran.

One of the victims had stab wounds to the neck, chest and left forearm. He was in stable condition, according to the sheriff’s office. The second victim had been stabbed in the chest and arm and was also in stable condition.

When deputies spoke to Emery, he told them that while he was walking with the two people, he became paranoid that they were going to kill him and started stabbing them. He told officials that “everything was a ‘blur,’” and that when it was over, he ran to a parking lot and walked into a Publix, “still holding the knife and with blood on his shirt, asking management for help.” the report says.

Emery faces two counts of second-degree attempted murder, according to the sheriff’s office. He is being held in the Polk County Jail, according to jail records.

This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Bloody man accused of stabbing 2 people walks into Publix with knife, Florida cops say."