Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Peter Ashley Thompson, 35, was arrested today on an attempted homicide charge after police say he stabbed a man who had been sleeping outside a shopping center on Archer Road. The victim was reported to be in critical condition.
Gainesville Police Department officers were called at about 8:25 a.m. on August 14 to 3581 SW Archer Road after a stabbing was reported. The victim, who suffered multiple stab wounds to his head, chest, and arms, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. According to police, at least one wound penetrated the victim’s skull.
A witness at a nearby business reportedly told officers the victim was lying on the ground asleep when a slim Black male approached, straddled him, and began striking him. The victim started screaming, and the witness said they saw a knife in the suspect’s hand. After the attack, the suspect allegedly wiped the knife blade on the victim’s blanket and walked behind the building toward Kohl’s. The witness described the man as wearing a white shirt and light-colored shorts, possibly khaki.
Police set up a perimeter in the area and later found a slim Black male sitting outside a tent in a wooded area behind Goodwill at 3520 SW 34th Street. The man, identified as Thompson, was reportedly washing his hands with water from a bottle when officers located him.
The witness positively identified Thompson as the person who stabbed the victim, according to police.
An officer also reported seeing the tent’s entrance flap open. Inside, a pair of khaki shorts was visible, lying on top of what appeared to be a large knife or machete.
A K-9 unit tracked from the stabbing scene and ended the track at Thompson’s tent, police reported.
Post Miranda, Thompson reportedly admitted to stabbing the victim in the face. He said he stabbed the victim because he was tired of people disturbing his property and tent area, and he believed the victim was associated with a group of people who had been disturbing his belongings. He said he went to Walmart this morning, and when he returned, he found that his tent area had been disturbed; he believed the victim was responsible for this, so he returned to where he had seen the victim and stabbed him with the intent of putting him in the hospital. He said he had hidden the knife in the bushes near his tent and had changed his clothes.
Thompson has been charged with attempted homicide. He has eight felony convictions (non-violent) and 21 misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he served three months in the Alachua County Jail earlier this year after entering a plea of nolo contendere to battery and trespassing. His bail (or a preliminary order to hold him without bail) will be set tomorrow.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
