Police seek suspect in Tuesday night stabbing incident
Published 9:51 am Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Police are investigating a stabbing that took place Tuesday night at a city apartment and are asking for the public’s help in locating the suspect.
Around 8:45 p.m., officers of the Elizabethton Police Department responded to an apartment on North Lynn Avenue after receiving a report of a possible domestic disturbance at the residence.
EPD Sgt. Matt Croy said when he arrived at the apartment he was met by Heather Collins in the back parking lot, and she asked him if police had “got him.” Croy said he asked who she was referring to and she replied “John Gray.”
“Ms. Collins then stated he cut him bad. I asked who was cut, and she stated Tim. She stated he was up front. I went to the front of the residence and observed a male, later identified as Timothy Frazier, with blood on him,” Croy said. “I looked at his back and noticed one cut on the lower left side that was not deep but bleeding. I then observed a deep laceration in the center top part of his back and the bleeding was not controlled. The Carter County Rescue Squad was called and I applied pressure until the squad arrived to take over.”
Croy said he asked Frazier what happened and Frazier told him he had been at Collins’ home because they were friends when Gray came to the apartment.
“Tim stated he feared for Ms. Collins and her children’s lives when he ordered them inside, slammed the door, and locked it,” Croy said. “Mr. Frazier stated he climbed through the bedroom window and met with John Gray there. Mr. Frazier stated they began fighting.”
Frazier said while he was fighting with Gray that Gray wielded a knife and knicked him on the stomach, cut him on his left leg, and as they got closer Gray cut him on his back twice. Frazier said Gray then fled the apartment.
Croy also spoke with Collins, who said she came out of the bathroom and saw Gray and Frazier fighting on her bed. “Ms. Collins stated they got off the bed and hit the wall and she saw blood coming from Mr. Frazier’s back,” Croy said. “Ms. Collins stated Mr. Gray then ran toward downtown Elizabethton.”
The officer also spoke with another witness on the scene, Betty Connor, who reported she had seen Gray pull a blue knife from his back pocket.
“Ms. Connor stated she grabbed Mr. Gray’s arm and asked him to leave,” Croy said. “Ms. Connor stated at this time Mr. Frazier came through the window and Mr. Gray jumped at him and they began fighting.”
Officers searched the area around the apartment and in downtown but were not able to locate Gray.
EPD Capt. Shane Darling said based on the investigation at the scene, officers obtained a warrant charging Gray with aggravated assault. Collins has an active order of protection against Gray issued by the court, so Darling said Gray will also be charged with violating that order of protection.
“He is considered dangerous,” Darling said of Gray. “We’ve had call after call on him violating that order of protection.”
A check of records at the Carter County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office shows that Gray was charged with three separate incidents of violating that order of protection during the month of July.
“In my mind, that is what makes him so dangerous because he is continually violating that order of protection and now he has gone to that home and stabbed somebody,” Darling said.
Darling said police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Gray so he can be taken into custody. Gray is a 34-year-old male with brown hair and brown eyes. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds.
If anyone has any information regarding Gray’s whereabouts, Darling asked them to contact 911 immediately.