KEY POINTS

  • A Tennessee man was charged with two counts of attempted murder Sunday after he attacked a married couple with a machete
  • The assailant was identified as Kelvin Edwards, 35, a homeless
  • The couple was then rushed to a hospital, where they were listed in critical condition

A man in Tennessee was charged with two counts of attempted murder Sunday after he slashed a married couple with a machete in an unprovoked attack to express his anger against the coronavirus lockdown.

Metro Nashville Police were alerted to a man launching an attack on a couple at around 3:47 p.m. EST in the offices of Public Storage in 800 5th Avenue South, according to a statement.

The assailant was identified as Kelvin Edwards, 35, a homeless, whom an officer who was present at the scene arrested immediately. After the attack, Edwards allegedly walked out of the office, threw his machete down, and stood on the street with hands raised as the officer arrived to detain him.

The couple, Kevin Craft, 55, and Leanne Craft, 50, was waiting inside the office when Edwards entered and struck them with his machete repeatedly until they dropped bloodied on the ground.

“Six MNPD officers used their special training in trauma care to apply multiple tourniquets to the victims in an effort to control the bleeding and save their lives,” the statement said. The couple was then rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where they were listed in critical condition.

An investigation revealed that Edwards hid the machete inside a bin at Public Storage. Edwards, during an interview with detective Brent Fisher, said he was infuriated by the COVID-19 lockdown and the fact that he couldn’t make it to the Rescue Mission.

“It appears Edwards retrieved the machete from his bin and explained that he decided to demonstrate his anger in the violent attack on the Crafts, who he did not know,” the statement added.

Metro Nashville Police said it was not Edward’s first run-in with the law. He was arrested multiple times in 2016, the same year he came to live in Nashville. He was convicted of felony vandalism in 2017 and was charged with deliberately spitting on two Davidson County Sheriff’s deputies.

A witness to the attack described seeing a man "with a machete and silver canisters on his chest" fleeing from plain-clothes police before they opened fire
A witness to the attack described seeing a man "with a machete and silver canisters on his chest" fleeing from plain-clothes police before they opened fire AFP / ISABEL INFANTES