Article: Female Students Take Down Maine Slasher

Female Students Take Down Maine Slasher
Updated: 2 days 19 hours ago
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Mara Gay
Contributor
(May 6) -- Five female students stopped a man from stabbing a woman to death on a college campus in Maine, forcing the man onto the ground and holding him until police arrived.

The women tackled 45-year-old Horst Wolk after they saw him attacking a 34-year-old nursing student with a knife Wednesday morning in the parking lot of Husson University in Bangor, Maine. Twenty-one-year-old Jesse Hladik -- who had just taken a self-defense course -- seized the knife, while the other women held Wolk to the pavement.

"It was really scary, but I'm glad we got involved," one of the students, 18-year-old Heather Mann, told The Associated Press. "Because I really think he would have killed her."

The nursing student, whose name has not been released, was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening wounds and released. She had a restraining order against Wolk.

Police say it was the quick action of the five women who leapt to her defense that may have saved her life.

"The female students all banded together and took care of themselves today," Bangor Police Sgt. Paul Edwards told the Bangor Daily News. Police, he said, responded to a report that "several people were subduing a male suspect on the ground" and arrived to find that the women had overtaken the attacker.

Edwards said he's glad the women helped, but he cautioned against getting involved in such a dangerous situation.

"We would never recommend getting involved to the point where you might get hurt yourself and become a second victim," he said. "But am I proud of what they did? Of course I am. Am I glad they did it? Yeah. I'm happy because the outcome was good."

Julie Green, a spokeswoman for Husson University, said the school is "extremely proud" of its students. "They made a difference today," she said.

John Michaud, a criminal justice professor at Husson University, told the AP that he saw more women near the group ready to help out in case the women needed an extra hand.

"How many times do you hear about people walking by incidents like this?" he asked. "These young ladies weren't going to walk by this incident."

Wolk was charged with attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault, aggravated assault and violation of a protection order, the Daily News reported.