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Man Armed With Machete Arrested After Writing Satanic Messages In Blood On Sorority House, Police Say
Patrick Canter allegedly scrawled messages in his own blood that appeared to say "hail to satan" and "There is no God," according to witnesses at Eastern Carolina University.
A man wielding a machete has been accused of writing satanic messages in blood on a North Carolina sorority house and nearby car.
East Carolina University police Capt. Chris Sutton told Oxygen.com that Patrick Canter, 25, was taken into custody Sunday night after a few people flagged down an ECU officer around 9 p.m. after seeing a man with blood on his arms and hands.
Canter—who authorities believe is homeless—had been carrying a machete.
“Within about five minutes they were able to locate Mr. Canter. The shift supervisor was the initial contact officer and he was able to safely disarm him of a machete,” Sutton said.
Sutton said authorities believe Canter used the machete to cut his own hands and arms and then used his blood to write the satanic messages on a building and nearby car.
The New York Post identified the building as the Alpha Delta Pi sorority house.
“The whole incident is troubling and I’m certain it’s very concerning for the residents of the home, as well as their parents,” Sutton told the outlet. “But we’re pleased our officers were able to locate Mr. Canter so quickly and disarm him safely without higher levels of force. Obviously, he was in some form of distress.”
Student Grant Miller told WITN that the blood-scrawled messages looked like “a couple upside down crosses.”
“It said ‘Hail Satan’ like written in blood, which is strange,” he said.
Images posted to social media after the bizarre incident also appeared to show the words “There is no God” and “F--- God.”
Sutton told Oxygen.com that Canter did not provide a motive for the writings when he was apprehended, but he allegedly did make comments that were “satanic and sadistic in nature.”
He was transported to receive medical care at a local hospital. After he was released on Monday, Sutton said he was charged with injury to real property.
“Our investigation is still ongoing,” he said, adding that additional charges could be possible in the case.
Sutton said authorities believe the troubling encounter was an isolated incident and was unusual for the normally quiet college community.
Police are working now to make sure residents in the area feel safe.
“We were fortunate that the three citizens that identified him and pointed him out, did so and gave really good descriptions so our officers could respond,” he said.
