As deputies continued attempts to contact the people in the apartment, the apartment door suddenly opened and a male victim came rushing out. He was covered in blood and bleeding profusely from the neck. Simultaneously, Victim Winkler ran out of the door, lunging at the back of the fleeing victim. Both ran directly at the deputies. Winkler was similar to the description of the suspect and was wearing a black shirt. Believing Winkler was the assailant and the assault was ongoing and he would attack the entry team; three deputies fired their duty weapons at him. Victim Winkler was struck by the gunfire and fell to the floor, and the male victim also collapsed; struck once by the gunfire.
Deputies said they were originally told only two men were in the apartment, indicating that cops believed the two who burst toward them were victim and suspect.
But after the shooting deputies went inside to find who they now say is the real suspect on top of a man, choking him and "tearing at his face," the department's statement said:
Deputies could see the victim was about to go unconscious and a large knife was on the floor near them. The deputies were able to use physical force to subdue the suspect and end the assault. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident.
Sheriff's investigators now say that the alleged choker, Alexander McDonald, was the thin man in a black shirt that they were looking for. Deputies allege that he held Winkler and two others captive inside an apartment before allegedly stabbing them and fighting it out with them as they tried to subdue him, according to the statement:
They walked into a situation with bad information and it made things even worse.
