Crystal KobzaHOUSTON (KTRK) -- For the second time in a week, violence strikes at a facility for the mentally ill. This time, it happened at an assisted living home in northeast Houston. It ended with the caretaker in the hospital and the resident behind bars. It happened at around 4am Friday at the facility for the mentally ill and disabled on Burnley near Foxridge. Police say the situation started with an argument that escalated. They say the resident stabbed the caretaker with a steak knife and the caretaker then struck the resident in the head with a hammer.
The confrontation apparently started after the caretaker asked to man to stop smoking in the house with the windows closed. According to people here that is what triggered this violent assault.
Ronald Adams who lives at the home said, "The only thing I really heard was that guy saying, 'I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you.'"
An assisted living home caretaker and house manager was stabbed in the head allegedly by a mentally ill man who police say pulled out a kitchen steak knife during a confrontation early Friday morning. Police say after being stabbed, the caretaker hit the man over the head with a hammer.
Adams, who is disabled, says the suspect is unstable.
"He's alright one minute and the next minute he will go off," Adams explained.
A former caretaker at the home who arrived after the stabbing says he's angered about what happened.
Arrunn Delany said, "He calls me his brother and I love him like a brother. I just don't think he is going to be served justice because of the fact that they took him to jail instead of taking him to the hospital where he needs to be for the mentally ill."
Delany says the suspect suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety, and hasn't been taking his medicine for weeks. Delany added the suspect was supposed to be picked up Friday after a mental health warrant was issued.
"With these kinds of people you don't know what to expect," Delany said. "So you can expect them to be rude. You know they're bipolar, so anything you say to them can trigger anything in their head."
According to police, the caretaker was taken to Ben Taub Hospital and is listed as stable. People living at this home said he is in his 60s.
A total of seven people live in this assisted living home, aside from the caretaker, who also serves as a house manager.
It's not known at this time what charges the suspect may face.
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