8-year-old stabbed multiple times in apparently random attack in Spokane Valley

A 30-year-old man faces charges of attempted murder following what authorities describe as the “random and vicious” stabbing of an 8-year-old boy in a Spokane Valley store Saturday afternoon.

At around 4:30 p.m., deputies responded to a HiCo in Spokane Valley after reports of a fight and the possible stabbing of a child. When they arrived at the scene, the suspect – identified as Bruce D. Landahl – had already been restrained by witnesses and the victim’s father, according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release. The release did not specify the location of the HiCo store.

According to witnesses, the victim, accompanied by his father, had been playing with an iPad inside the store when Landahl entered, approached the victim and seized him. Landahl stabbed the victim multiple times before his father was able to intervene, according to the release.

Other witnesses came to the aid of the father, while others tended to the son, “who was bleeding from several wounds, including one to his neck,” according to the release.

The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition, according to the release.

The sheriff’s office states that Landahl appeared to have been under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the attack, and continued to be aggressive – including an unsuccessful attempt to slip out of the handcuffs – during transportation to the Spokane Public Safety Building, where he was interviewed by Spokane Valley Major Crimes detectives.

Due to the nature of the attack, Major Crimes has taken over the investigation. Landahl faces charges of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault of a child.