An Orlando, FL employment office was the scene of what appears to be an attack by a disgruntled client. At about 9:30 AM on a Tuesday last month, a 31-year-old man entered the business with a machete. He argued with a male and female employee and then tried to stab them both.
Police said that as the suspect was trying to lunge at the employees, one of them shot him. This caused the suspect to flee the scene on foot. He was later taken into custody and is now facing multiple felony charges. Both employees were taken to a hospital with lacerations for treatment.
Workplace attacks are not all that common but like any other attack, the consequences can be catastrophic if not prepared for. Fortunately, one of the employees was prepared and was able to quickly end the attack with minimal injuries.
The report didn’t indicate whether the suspect walked into the office with the machete in hand or if it was somehow concealed until he attacked. It’s certainly not something that could be hidden in one’s waistband so unless he had it hidden under a coat somehow, it’s seems that the threat could have at least been suspected.
If the knife was out when he entered then there would be no reason to verbally engage with him in some sort of argument. The move would be to retreat if possible and give commands to drop the knife and leave and be prepared to draw your defensive firearm.
The point is an angry man with a very large knife could easily be considered a deadly force threat the moment he enters a room.
But even without the knife being evident, maintaining distance from any angry person gives one more time to react if they choose to become violent. In other words, any time a disagreement looks like it could escalate into something threatening it’s time to disengage and ask the potential threat to leave.
