Posted on 05/12/2019 2:02:24 PM PDT by buckalfa
WYTHE COUNTY, Va. - One of the two victims in Saturday morning’s machete attack on the Appalachian Trail has died and law enforcement has now named the suspect under arrest.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said Sunday that 30-year-old James Jordan was arrested in the early morning hours Saturday. He faces federal charges that include murder and assault with the intent to murder.
The spokesman said Sunday that one of the victims has died. 10 News previously reported that investigators said one of the victims, a female, was expected to survive the attack, while the condition of the other, a male, was unknown.
The investigation is ongoing, the spokesman said.
Jordan is scheduled to have an initial appearance in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, Monday morning.
“I commend local law enforcement in Wythe and Smyth Counties for mobilizing successful rescue and tactical operations in this remote region,” U.S. Attorney Cullen said in a statement. “Thanks to their efforts, the suspect was safely apprehended and a seriously wounded victim received critical medical care.”
Jordan is from West Yarmouth, Massachusetts.
As 10 News has previously reported, investigators said Saturday that the suspect attacked a man and a woman with a machete while they two were hiking together on the Appalachian Trail near Crawfish Road.
Wythe County Sheriff Keith Dunagan told 10 News investigators are still searching the trail, worried that there may be more victims.
Jordan faced charges after a separate altercation on the Appalachian Trail in April, during which he threatened hikers in North Carolina and Tennessee. He is also known by his trail name “Sovereign.”
Original story: Two people were assaulted on the Appalachian Trail early Saturday morning, according to Wythe County Sheriff Keith Dunagan, who told 10 News one person is in custody. That suspect is now facing federal charges.
Investigators say the suspect attacked a man and a woman with a machete, while they were hiking together on the trail near Crawfish Road. Dunagan said the female victim will survive the attack. Law enforcement could not comment on the condition of the male victim.
Between 3:30 and 4 a.m. Saturday, Wythe County deputies were alerted about a man threatening Appalachian Trail hikers. Two hikers reported to the Bland County Sheriff's Office that there was a man with a machete assaulting people on the trail in Wythe County.
The male victim was found in Wythe County using GPS technology, after he sent out an emergency notification on his cellphone.
"They pinged it on the Wythe County side of the trail. So, the phone company notified us and that's when we went up there and found the suspect and the victim," Dunagan said. "We had our whole [tactical] team out there, so he wisely just surrendered himself."
Deputies found a machete on the trail that they believe the supsect was using.
Dunagan said the female victim was found in Smyth County after walking six miles -- injured and bleeding-- before finding a couple of hikers and calling for help.
The suspect was taken to a jail in Wythe County. Saturday evening, he was then transported by federal authorities to a jail cell in Washington County.
The sheriff's office would not release the suspect's name. However, the sheriff tells NBC affiliate WCYB in Bristol, Va. that this attack is connected to another altercation on the Appalachian Trail in April.
In that incident, James Jordan, 30, was charged with criminal impersonation and drug possession after police say he threatened other hikers on the trail in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Jordan, also known by his trail name 'Sovereign,' was released from jail, put on probation and ordered to pay fines.
Dunagan described the incident as "isolated." However, investigators worry there may be more victims and are searching the trail.
Virginia State Police confirmed to 10 News that troopers have assisted in the investigation. The U.S. Forest Service and FBI are also assisting.
U.S. Forest Service officials said about 18 miles of the Appalachian Trail is expected to remain closed on the Smyth and Bland County ends coming into Wythe until 6 a.m. Sunday.
The closure is about from the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area office to the Eastern Divide Ranger District boundary.
The section of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Wythe County is about a mile long and is located in the west region of the county.
The ‘kid’ that murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born to a drug addict mother and his brain was scrambled from conception. He is pyscho.
As a young boy, he tried to kick his neighbor’s baby into the swimming pool and went on to demonstrate his need to be institutionalized for years.
My son and I ran across a guy on the AT carrying a machete. He was very strange and talked to himself at the shelters. This was maybe 8 years ago. I wonder now if this was the same guy.
The AT attracts a lot of homeless. There’s a whole subculture of them every year on the trail.
.***build mental asylums ***
We had them but they were closed after TITICUT FOLLIES and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST movies came out. People felt they should be in regular society. And the crime wave started.
Don’t tell me, white supremist?
Some more background. Why was this turd let out?
“Subject on the AT we received several complaints about has been located and checked by North Carolina Law Enforcement in Madison County,” Hensley wrote on Facebook.
The man was reportedly in possession of marijuana, a pipe, and a 20-inch knife, according to the sheriff.
“He was slurring his words, trouble standing to the point I allowed him to rest on the hood of my car,” the report said.
Investigators said he had bloodshot eyes and smelled of marijuana so they searched him and that’s when they found the knife and drugs.
According to WCYB, other charges in Unicoi County against Jordan are pending and in other jurisdictions along the trail.
Earlier Monday, the man had been described as armed with a machete and dangerous — but then the Madison County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina told WLOS in Asheville that they had made contact with the man, and didn’t believe there was a threat.
Investigators said the object initially believed to be a machete was a guitar, and that the man has made no criminal threats and wasn’t going to be charged with a crime.
However, Unicoi authorities said a suspect caused a disturbance in the Sams Gap Area and was under the influence of an intoxicant. The suspect reportedly gave investigators a fake name and identification, according to the report.
I remember fifty years ago my first liberty in Subic, we were warned about “drugs”.
I didn’t get it. I was thinking they were talking about medicine. I didn’t know a thing about illegal drug use.
Maybe he's a tranny.
Pot doesn’t help some people.
Taurus made a very lightweight .357 all titanium Model 605, that went about 16 oz (unloaded) IIRC...Don’t know if it’s still available new, but used maybe...Never shot one, and suspect they have a serious recoil, but that’s lightweight!
The Ruger LCR in .38 Special, with a couple of speedloaders is not a bad choice for backpacking. especially for defense against 2-legged predators...I’d step up to .357 or .44 Mag for bears and cats, though...
May be time to go back to honest men carrying swords?
Given that he is from massassachusetts, he is probably a LIB nitwit and lunatic.
One .44 magnum + one insane would-be murderer = one well-earned defense.
Weapons carry, because when you really, really need them, the police are minutes (or hours) away.
Many insane asylum facilities are still there, but lying fallow. It might not cost all THAT much to rehab them and Bellevue Hospital, in NYC, is still up and running; it's just not used for an insane asylum anymore, though they DO still have one psychiatric ward.
Besides which, this solution would NOT be a Fed Gov thing, but rather a states' perview.
Bovine excrement!
And the 2 idiots who tried to shoot up the STEM school in Colorado were not only weirdos, but druggies as well.
And Adam Lanza was a known mental case from at least the age of 9.
Gun-Free Zone?
So what you’re saying we do nothing?
Stupid bleeding heart lefty DEMS closed them and yes, that IS when major crime waves by the “homeless” began.
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