Man stabs 11-year-old after being called 'NPC'

A 29-year-old man from Everett, Washington, reportedly stabbed an 11-year-old in a Dollar Tree store in Mill Creek after he was called an “NPC”.

As reported by HeraldNet, the Snohomish County Sheriff and Mill Creek Police officers responded to an emergency services call about the stabbing on Wednesday, 22 March. It’s claimed that the man chased the 11-year-old, as well as a 13-year-old who he also attempted to stab, into the store where he stabbed the youngest with a kitchen knife. Officers reportedly found a blue knife sheath in the suspect’s front trouser pocket - the blade he was accused of using was around five to six inches long.

The 11-year-old was found by officers in the back of the store with an employee, and he was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. However, police say that he then had to be transferred to Harborview Medical Center’s trauma unit in Seattle to deal with his injury. It’s reported that the child was left with a partially collapsed lung as a result of the attack.

On Thursday, 23 March, prosecutors claimed that one of the two children called the 29-year-old man an “NPC”, which apparently motivated the attack. In the context of video games, NPC stands for non-player character (basically, any character that gamers don’t play as or control directly), but the term has also been getting more and more usage online to describe someone who doesn’t think for themselves. Although it first gained popularity back in 2018, it resurged as a widespread meme on TikTok last year.

Reportedly, the 29-year-old man was arrested for investigation of two counts of first-degree assault. Court papers claim that he wasn’t combative with police, and that he had no prior criminal history. Judge Anthony Howard of Everett District Court set bail at $500,000.