TN - 3 women stabbed to death at truck stop, Knox County, 7 April 2020

[MajorHoople]

THREE WOMEN STABBED TO DEATH AT TRUCK STOP


"Three people were fatally stabbed at a Pilot truck stop in Knox County early Tuesday morning before responding deputies confronted and killed the suspect, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

A fourth victim was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Just before 7 a.m., Knox Co. deputies were dispatched to the Pilot Travel Center on Strawberry Plains Pike on a reported stabbing.

When deputies arrived, they saw one person with stab wounds in the parking lot and a man holding a knife. Witnesses identified that man as the suspect, according to TB spokesperson Leslie Earhart."

TBI: Man killed 3 women with a knife and wounded another before he was fatally shot by deputies

 

[MajorHoople]

Three Fatally Stabbed At Knoxville Truck Stop, Suspect Shot And Killed

"A report of a stabbing at the truck stop at 7210 Strawberry Plains Pike was made just before 7 a.m. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has confirmed three female victims were fatally stabbed and another woman was transported to a nearby hospital. The condition of the hospitalized individual is unknown at the time.

The male stabbing suspect was shot and killed by law enforcement, TBI spokesperson Leslie Earhart said. Upon arrival, officers observed at least one person with stab wounds outside of the store. A man, armed with a knife and identified by witnesses as the suspect, was also observed in the parking lot."

Three fatally stabbed at Knoxville truck stop, suspect shot and killed

 

[MajorHoople]

Officer-Involved Shooting After Reported Stabbing At Pilot Truck Stop In Knox County

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

Does TN not have COVID-19? In the video people can be seen talking and standing beside each another and also no masks.
Do police officers not have masks to protect themselves?

 

[MajorHoople]

New Information In Triple Stabbing Murder

"Upon arrival, officers observed at least one person with stab wounds outside of the store. A man, armed with a knife and identified by witnesses as the suspect, was also observed in the parking lot. Officers confronted the individual who refused to drop the weapon. At some point during the encounter, one of the officers fired shots, striking the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene," said TBI in a press release.

The suspect was killed. He was identified as Idris Abdus-Salaam, 33, a truck driver from Durham, North Carolina.

TBI: Truck driver stabbed 4 women at Pilot before being killed by deputies; victims identified

 

[MajorHoople]

Durham truck driver killed after stabbing 3 to death at Tennesee truck stop

A stabbing suspect who was shot and killed after fatally stabbing three women and hospitalizing a fourth at a Knoxville truck stop early Tuesday has been identified by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The deceased suspect, Idris Abdus-Salaam, 33, was a truck driver from Durham, North Carolina.

The three deceased victims were all employed at the Pilot Travel Center on Strawberry Plains Pike. They have been identified as:

Joyce Whaley, 57
Patricia Denise Nibbe, 51
Nettie R. Spencer, 41

The fourth victim, who was a customer, remains hospitalized.

 

[killarney rose]

Yes they have a high incidence of the virus and Knoxville as well as Knox county are on stay at home orders.

 

[PayrollNerd]

What the heck set him off? How was he able to attack 4 adults without anyone intervening? I realize it was early morning but still, that truck stop is busy like every other truck stop across the country.

 

[NervousNellie]

Great question, @PayrollNerd! Surely LE will find out. But I think a lot of crimes will be solved (or explained, in this case) that never are.

 

[MajorHoople]

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation comments on the Pilot Truck Stop Murders:

 

[IceIce9]

This is so sad. I always feel terrible for employees who are murdered while just doing their regular job. They go off to work every day, never imagining they will be attacked on the job.

 

[momsof3]

The deceased suspect, Idris Abdus-Salaam, 33, was a truck driver from Durham, North Carolina.

The three deceased victims were all employed at the Pilot Travel Center on Strawberry Plains Pike. They have been identified as:

Joyce Whaley, 57
Patricia Denise Nibbe, 51
Nettie R. Spencer, 41

The fourth victim, who was a customer, remains hospitalized.

All women! All older than him! What a coward. It was a truck stop, I'm sure there were men around, but this guy picks 4 middle-aged women.

 

[MajorHoople]

All women! All older than him! What a coward. It was a truck stop, I'm sure there were men around, but this guy picks 4 middle-aged women.

I was indeed a cowardly crime. I suspect, but have no proof, that Idris Abdus-Salaam had political motives that went further than mere anger issues.

 

[IceIce9]

I haven’t been able to find any details on this crime. Were the women working inside the store? I am trying to picture how many employees a typical Pilot store would have working at the same time. The Pilot stores I have been inside usually have 2 or 3 registers open, an employee at the Cinnabon counter (bakery?) and maybe a few working on the lot.

 

[MajorHoople]

I haven’t been able to find any details on this crime. Were the women working inside the store? I am trying to picture how many employees a typical Pilot store would have working at the same time. The Pilot stores I have been inside usually have 2 or 3 registers open, an employee at the Cinnabon counter (bakery?) and maybe a few working on the lot.

I've been inside that store before, but it's been a few years. The best I remember the sales counter is on the left as soon as you walk through the front door. I think there are 3 or 4 cash registers. I believe there is no door or gate at the end of the counter. I'm guessing Idris Abdus-Salaam walked behind the counter and trapped the cashiers and they had nowhere to run.

The fourth victim was a customer. Fortunately she survived her injuries and has now been released from the hospital.

 

[IceIce9]

Has anything been released regarding possible motive? Mental illness?

 

[PayrollNerd]

I was indeed a cowardly crime. I suspect, but have no proof, that Idris Abdus-Salaam had political motives that went further than mere anger issues.

I don’t think it was political so much as he was just in a psychotic rage. Maybe it was drug fueled. It seems so random that a former corrections officer from Raleigh, NC would go on a rampage in what is essentially a small rural town, hundreds of miles away. Straw Plains has grown over the last 25 years but it’s not like this is a big metropolis. What’s this dude been up to since he lost his job a year ago? Looks like he spiraled downward after the felony arrest in 2018.

Snip:
Abdus-Salaam was arrested in Raleigh on April 13, 2018, court documents show. He was arrested near the Wade Avenue/ Interstate-440 interchange and charged with felony eluding arrest with a motor vehicle.

He worked as a correctional officer with the North Carolina Department of Safety from August 2014 to May 2019.

When he left the department, he was an officer at Central Prison in Raleigh, DPS said.

A reason for his departure from DPS was not immediately available.

Durham truck driver killed after stabbing 3 to death at Tennesee truck stop

 

[PayrollNerd]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Notes believed to be from the suspect who stabbed three truck stop employees to death Tuesday suggested he may not have been mentally well. A source close to the investigation showed WBIR pages of the notebook he said law enforcement recovered from Idris Abdus Salaam's truck.

The notebook the source said was found in the truck contains graphic writing believed to be from Abdus-Salaam.

It suggested he may not be mentally well.

Because of the graphic nature of the writing and because law enforcement has not yet confirmed or denied the existence of this notebook, WBIR is not sharing the full text.
More at link
Source: Notebook found in stabbing suspect's truck, may offer insight into mental state

 

[PayrollNerd]

WBIR Channel 10 Facebook page. Lots of comments.

Posted a few hours ago;
Notes believed to be from the suspect who stabbed three truck stop employees to death Tuesday suggested he may not have been mentally well. A source said they contain graphic writing.

WBIR Channel 10

 

[MajorHoople]

Truck stop stabbing spree suspect's mother: 'He's not a violent person'

"Idris Abdus-Salaam's mother contends he was not capable of the unexplained violence that left three women dead at an East Knox County truck stop.

Walidah Abdus-Salaam, however, maintains that such a heinous act is completely out of character for her son."

"He's not a violent person," she told Knox News. "The picture they painted is ugly. That is not my son.

"I don't believe it, and I refuse to believe it until they can prove otherwise to me."

"Abdus-Salaam was a U.S.-born citizen, a longtime Durham resident and a practicing Muslim, his mother said. He was not married and had no children.

Although he traveled frequently for his work, he stayed in close contact with his family and had spoken to his sister a couple of days before the attack.

His loved ones had no reason to believe he had become radicalized by any sort of religious fanaticism, his mother said.

The family had no indication Abdus-Salaam was suffering from mental illness, either.

"Unless it developed recently and I'm not aware of it," Walidah Abdus-Salaam said."