Columbus Police Identify Suspect, Victims In Downtown Stabbing

Columbus Police identified the man they say stabbed four people at a Downtown office building Wednesday during the lunch hour. Columbus Police say John Mallet, 37, is responsible for the stabbings at Miami Jacobs Career College. And they’ve charged him with four counts of felonious assault. Police spokesman Sergeant Rich Weiner said they still do not know why Mallet went to the office building at the corner of Fourth and Gay Streets. “There is no link between the suspect and the building or the suspect and the victims. Like I said this is a preliminary investigation and it is still ongoing. But at this time we believe this to be nothing but a random act," Weiner said. Mallet is accused of stabbing three men in the college’s admissions office. And bystanders are credited with wrestling away one of Mallet’s knives. But police say he had two more, and stabbed a fourth man in the building’s lobby before police arrived. Police cruiser video shows a man pointing in Mallet’s direction who is outside the office building. Officer Deborah Ayers gets out of her car and runs toward Mallet. here is a moment of silence then gun fire. Police say Mallet, who is from Nashville and has only lived in Columbus a month, suffers from mental illness. Relatives say he has not been taking his medication. And Sergeant Weiner said investigators continue to talk with the family. “To find out exactly what his condition is, and why he might have been in the Downtown area," Weiner said. Police say three of the victims are affiliated with Miami Jacobs Career College, and a fourth victim works for the Ohio Attorney General’s office which has offices in the building. “At least one of the victims here is a Good Samaritan where he was assisting one of his co-workers when the attack first happened," Weiner said. Gerald Dowe, Jr. and Donte E. Dunnagan work for the career college where the first stabbings took place. John M. Desir is a student of the college. All three men were stabbed in the college’s admissions office. A fourth victim, Jeff Maloon, is an attorney with the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Police are trying to obtain surveillance video from the admission office.