A 20-year-old man dressed in a Halloween costume as a zombie allegedly stabbed two people at an Austin, Texas, coffee shop on Wednesday night, sparking a police search that ended on a nearby walking trail.
The Austin Police Department identified the suspect as Shankar Temple Grace. The violent confrontation occurred shortly before a scheduled local comedy show was set to begin at The Buzz Mill, a popular local coffee shop and bar.
Emergency dispatchers received reports of what authorities classify as a “disturbance hot shot,” an urgent designation reserved for rapidly escalating altercations carrying an immediate threat to life or serious bodily harm. Arriving officers and first responders discovered two injured victims inside the business.
Authorities confirmed that one victim sustained life-threatening injuries, while the second suffered non-life-threatening wounds. Both individuals were transported to a hospital, where they were subsequently listed in stable condition.
Witnesses at the establishment reported to investigators that Grace had already caused a disturbance at the bar prior to the knife attack. Another witness noted that the suspect’s face was heavily covered in theatrical zombie makeup.
Following the stabbings, Grace fled the premises in a pickup truck, driving away at high speed before colliding with an unoccupied autonomous vehicle. Law enforcement officers initiated a manhunt and ultimately located the suspect on a walking trail roughly three miles away from the crime scene.
Grace was taken into custody and booked into the Travis County Jail. He faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which is classified as a second-degree felony under Texas law.
