One of two firefighters stashed and stabbed by a patient Tuesday night as he was being taken to a hospital in the back of a rescue unit is recovering from serious injuries, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue interim Chief Keith Powers said Wednesday.
The incident took place after two firefighters/paramedics responded to a medical emergency about 10 p.m. on Franklin Street. Powers said the patient, later identified as Tony Harris, was calm when they loaded him in the rescue unit headed to UF Health Jacksonville. As the rescue unit drove through Springfield, the patient got up off the stretcher, grabbed a box cutter from Capt. Latorrence Morris' pocket, who was tending to him, and slashed him several times in the upper chest and abdomen," Powers said. Powers said the firefighter/engineer who was driving, Vinnie Harper, heard the commotion, stopped the rescue unit on Boulevard at West 10th Street and climbed in the back to help subdue the patient. Harper suffered a deep cut to his right thigh.