Man held knife to girl's throat in mall bathroom, Ga. cops say. Bystanders tackled him
An 11-year-old girl who went to use the restroom in a metro-Atlanta mall on May 8 at around 6:30 p..m. suddenly had to flee for her life when police say a man burst out of a stall and held a knife to her throat, WSB-TV reported.
The girl was at Town Center mall in Kennesaw, Ga., with her family when she asked to use the restroom, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Her dad walked her to the bathroom and then waited outside, the paper reported.
The girl didn't see anyone inside when she entered, but when she went to leave, police say a man came out of a stall in front of her, pulled out a knife and held it to her throat, according to WXIA. She screamed and was able to get away. She then pointed out the suspect to her father when the man followed her out of the bathroom, the station reported.
The father and other bystanders tackled the man and held him there until police arrived, Fox 5 reported.
Police arrested 26-year-old Danzell Mitchell and charged him with aggravated assault, attempted kidnapping and first-degree cruelty to children, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The mall released a statement saying it was "thankful that the young shopper involved in this serious but isolated incident is safe. We would like to express our gratitude to our security team and local authorities as well as the other shoppers for their quick actions to apprehend the suspect," according to CBS-46.
Police say the suspect may have had an accomplice. While he was being pinned down, police say Mitchell appeared distracted.
“The father looked backwards to see why this guy was distracted. In doing so, he saw a female communicating with this man,” Cobb County Deputy Chief Stuart Vanhoozer told the AJC.
Police are looking for any information on the woman, who they say appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent and in her 30s, WXIA reported. In a press conference, a police representative said the investigation would be continued "vehemently" both into this case and if there were any similar cases in the area.
This story was originally published May 9, 2018 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Man held knife to girl's throat in mall bathroom, Ga. cops say. Bystanders tackled him."