A 17-year-old from Minnesota was killed and four others are in critical condition after a stabbing rampage at a town’s favorite tubing spot. The 52-year-old Minnesota man accused of the act is in custody.
St. Croix County Sheriff says the suspect in the stabbing at Apple River, Wisconsin had initially fled the scene but was caught by authorities. He appeared in court where his bail was set.
You can see local news coverage here:
The suspect is Nicolae Miu, who was charged with first-degree homicide, mayhem and aggravated battery. Miu claimed to have acted in self-defense during his court appearance.
The incident began with a lost phone. A member of Miu’s party dropped their phone in the water and he went to look for it.
According to Sondra Miu, wife of the suspect, Miu claims to have been taunted by a group of teens who called him a pedophile and took Miu’s pocketknife to attack him.
However, video footage and eyewitness accounts showed otherwise.
Witnesses told authorities Miu was bothering another group, one made up of young people. The group eventually called for help from another group passing by.
They said Miu started attacking a young woman. Another member of the group struck Miu back to get him to stop.
This is when he pulled out his pocketknife and started stabbing multiple individuals who were near him.
\u201c@WCCO Not the Apple River I grew up with. What happened to just getting drunk and having a good time?\u201d— WCCO - CBS Minnesota (@WCCO - CBS Minnesota) 1659224448
\u201c@WCCO My condolences to his family and friends. Sad and tragic\u201d— WCCO - CBS Minnesota (@WCCO - CBS Minnesota) 1659398421
\u201c@FOX9 sad, no place is safe.\nI have tubed down the apple river many times when i was younger, even before they outlawed beer and still had cages to throw your beer cans into. Worst place to get hurt was the rapids/rocks at the end\ud83d\ude22\u201d— FOX 9 (@FOX 9) 1659226510
\u201c@nytimes Omg. Folks around where I live do this float all the time. Kids too. And then maquoketa caves killings. A lot hitting home lately.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1659405606
The video evidence does show Miu being taunted by someone saying he was “looking for little girls” but the rest of the video contradicts Miu’s version of events and the version his wife said he told her.
After being taunted, Miu pulled out his pocketknife.
This is contrary to what he told his wife—one of his taunters took it from him—and what he told police—he got the knife from one of his alleged assailants.
After “punching or slapping” a young woman in the other group, Miu was shoved and knocked backwards by a tuber in yellow trunks. When Miu gets back up, he takes out his knife and stabs the tuber in the abdomen.
After this, his stabbing spree began.
\u201c@PaulBlume_FOX9 @FOX9 Of course, self-defense \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\u201d— Paul Blume (@Paul Blume) 1659376733
\u201cThese murderers and their sudden loss of memory after they kill someone. Enough w/the BS! These were children. Where's the mysterious friend w/missing phone?\n\nCharges: Man responded to angry shoves by fatally stabbing teen, wounding 4 others at Apple River https://t.co/5Y5AifUJ13\u201d— CatT Reigning Typo Queen\ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f (@CatT Reigning Typo Queen\ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f) 1659393071
\u201c@mcguirereports Friggin lunatic\u201d— Mary McGuire (@Mary McGuire) 1659378597
\u201c@RobertPaulV79 @nickstreiff @MarcTwinCities @WCCO You don't bring a knife tubing!!!!\u201d— Nick Streiff (@Nick Streiff) 1659376961
Four victims were hospitalized with multiple stab wounds. One victim, 17-year-old Isaac Schuman, did not survive the encounter. He was an honor roll student about to begin his senior year of high school.
After news of the stabbing broke, people went to Miu’s Facebook page and found his interests ranged from guns and the second amendment to support for Donald Trump, MAGA and Blue Lives Matter.
Which to some commenters, was expected.
\u201c@weareallbarabas @nytimes White dude with lots of guns and Minions on his FB page.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1659272912
\u201cHere is the Facebook \u201cLike\u201d page of Nicolae (Nick) Miu who has been arrested for stabbing 5 young people on the Apple River in Wisconsin. He is a 52-year-old, married, white man who \u201cLikes\u201d Trump, guns, Jesus, and young busty white girls. \nhttps://t.co/9oVem9k9o4\u201d— Walker Katahdin (@Walker Katahdin) 1659312502
\u201c@zgore987 @Kirsten_TV @WCCO Another maga murder.\u201d— Kirsten Mitchell (@Kirsten Mitchell) 1659223074
\u201c@Rangaju3615 @nickstreiff @WCCO you\u2019re saying this because he\u2019s white ya know\u201d— Nick Streiff (@Nick Streiff) 1659376961
\u201cThe murderer that stabbed 5 people on the Apple River was a gun loving MAGAt https://t.co/cA9J1Ry1qE\u201d— \ud83c\udf00Eukanal Bytmeagh\ud83c\udf00 (@\ud83c\udf00Eukanal Bytmeagh\ud83c\udf00) 1659313695
At his hearing, Miu’s bail was set at one million dollars, with his next hearing set for later this month.
If convicted, he could face life in prison.
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