Homeless man charged with attempted homicide after allegedly stabbing another homeless man in the head

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Peter Ashley Thompson, 35, was arrested today and charged with attempted homicide after allegedly stabbing a man who was sleeping outside a shopping center on Archer Road; the victim is reportedly in critical condition.

At about 8:25 a.m. on August 14, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a report of a stabbing at 3581 SW Archer Road, and the victim, who had multiple stab wounds to the head, chest, and arms, was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. At least one of the stab wounds penetrated the victim’s skull.

A witness at a nearby business reportedly told officers that the victim was sleeping on the ground when a slim black male walked up, straddled the victim, and started hitting him; the victim started screaming, and the witness saw a knife in the suspect’s hand. When the suspect was done, he wiped the blade of the knife on the victim’s blanket and walked behind the building, in the direction of Kohl’s. The witness said the man was wearing a white shirt and light-colored, possibly khaki shorts.

Officers established a perimeter and found a slim black male sitting outside a tent in the wooded area behind Goodwill (3520 SW 34th Street). The male, identified as Thompson, was washing his hands with water from a bottle.

The witness positively identified Thompson as the man who had stabbed the victim.

An officer reported that the entrance flap to the tent was open, and a pair of khaki shorts could be seen inside, lying on top of a large knife or machete.

A K-9 track was conducted from the scene of the stabbing, and the K-9 ended the track at Thompson’s tent.

Post Miranda, Thompson reportedly admitted to stabbing the victim in the face. He said he stabbed the victim because he was tired of people disturbing his property and tent area, and he believed the victim was associated with a group of people who had been disturbing his belongings. He said he went to Walmart this morning, and when he returned, he found that his tent area had been disturbed; he believed the victim was responsible for this, so he returned to where he had seen the victim and stabbed him with the intent of putting him in the hospital. He said he had hidden the knife in the bushes near his tent and had changed his clothes.

Thompson has been charged with attempted homicide. He has eight felony convictions (non-violent) and 21 misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he served three months in the Alachua County Jail earlier this year after entering a plea of nolo contendere to battery and trespassing. His bail (or a preliminary order to hold him without bail) will be set tomorrow.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.