Reaction from the Mars Hill IGA Store owner following Stabbing Incident

MARS HILL, Maine (WAGM) - Around noon on Wednesday, October 20th, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call from the Mars Hill IGA reporting that an elderly female had been stabbed. Newssource 8′s Corey Bouchard spoke with the store owner, who was in the store when the incident happened, and has more.

The Town of Mars Hill was sent into lockdown on Wednesday when a woman was stabbed in the Mars Hill IGA. We spoke with the owner , who was actually inside the store when it happened. This is how he describes the incident.

Josh Tweedie – Owner – Mars Hill IGA “It was a bad thing that happened, I don’t know how to say it other than that, it was scary and traumatic for anybody that would have been involved…That kind of thing is unheard of, especially in Aroostook county”

Tweedie was only feet away from the incident as it happened and spoke with the alleged suspect, 45 year old Ramadan Muhammed, only moments before.

Josh”I actually made eye contact and spoke to him seconds before it would have happened… I had a feeling that something didn’t seem right because when he walked by I looked up and said Hi How are you today and didn’t get much of a response from him, somewhat of a mumble”

After that brief encounter, Tweedie was notified that the victim, a woman between 65 and 75 years old, was injured, but he didn’t know right away that she had been stabbed.

Josh “unfortunately, she was injured quite badly,no one saw when it happened, it happened at a spot in the store where no one was at that moment, thankfully I was only a few yards away… and then when we were able to realize and I looked and I could see a wound and I could see she had been injured I knew then something was wrong and I had to make sure that everybody else was safe and that she was gonna be safe and make sure we got help there as quick as possible”

They reviewed the CCTV Footage to make sure the suspect wasn’t still in the store.

Josh” Again, it was unfortunate the way it happened but he was able to leave the store where he quickly ran down an aisle, got to the front of the store and just like nothing happened was able to leave the store and the people in the front of the store had no clue what happened

Muhammed was arrested without incident at his residence and was transported to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton. Muhammed’s bail was set at $100,000 cash. Muhammed is currently charged with aggravated attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault, and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. The victim, who has not been identified, is listed in stable condition at a local hospital. Corey Bouchard, Newssource 8

WAGM reached out to the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office today, but they declined to comment as they are still actively investigating.

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