HCSO investigates stabbing incident

HOPE – A stabbing incident Saturday is being investigated by the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a report from the HCSO, the call came in around 9:20 p.m. concerning a first degree battery. When the deputy arrived at the Ozan Street address, he met with Sharvanta White and noticed the man’s shirt was covered in blood and had several cuts in it. White was reportedly alert and able to talk and told deputies he’d been stabbed by “Mike” at White’s BBQ store on Hempstead 22.

According to the report, White was relatively stable, but was told to remain still until paramedics with Pafford Ambulance arrived. The deputy noticed several cuts on White’s chest and abdomen.

When asked what happened, White reportedly said “Mike” had entered his store and started arguing with him, then attacked him and began stabbing him, but had no idea what the argument was about or why “Mike” stabbed him. White was reportedly unable to remember “Mike’s” last name, but told deputies he lived in Washington.

One of the deputies talked with the person who called the incident in, while another stayed with the victim until emergency services arrived. The caller reportedly said she’d been asleep when White knocked on her door. When she opened the door, he told her he’d been stabbed at his store and walked to her house. She called 911.

Pafford arrived and began treating White, and advised first responders to set up a landing zone so he could be flown to St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Hot Springs for treatment.

Deputies found a witness to the stabbing and were reportedly told the witness had been to the BBQ shack earlier in the day to get something to eat and was heading home when he saw a black man standing outside the business. The witness reportedly slowed down to tell White to have a good night when the man outside allegedly said “they are fighting”.

The witness reportedly got out of his truck to try and break the fight up, but as he entered, he allegedly noticed a man standing over White stabbing him in the chest and stomach area. The suspect fled the scene, while the witness went across the street to call 911.

According to the report, the witness saw the suspect, later identified as Michael Larry Bowles, 52, of Washington, run along West Front Street toward Hwy. 278 West, but lost sight of him temporarily, later reportedly seeing him get into a gold sport utility vehicle that headed toward Nashville. The witness reportedly told deputies he didn’t know who the man who told him White and Bowles were fighting was, nor where he went. He also told deputies he didn’t know the man who stabbed White.

Deputies later identified Bowles as a person of interest in the case and are looking for information as to his whereabouts. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the HCSO at 870-777-6727.