Man’s throat slashed at bus stop after asking for cigarette in NC tourist town, cops say

A man was slashed in the neck with a knife after he asked for a cigarette at a bus stop in a popular North Carolina tourist town, according to police.

Officers in Asheville responded to a bus stop near downtown at around 5:30 a.m. on April 18 and found a man with a cut on his neck, according to a post on the Asheville Police Department’s Facebook page.

The man’s injuries were not considered life-threatening, and he refused treatment, according to the post.

The man told officers that he had gotten into a fight with another man after asking him for a cigarette, according to police.

“The suspect pulled out a knife, started swinging, slashed the victim in the throat, and then left the scene prior to the officers’ arrival,” the post says.

Police are still searching for the man with a knife and are asking anyone with information to contact the department by calling 828-252-1110 or sending an anonymous tip, according to the post. Anonymous tips can be sent by texting TIP2APD to 847411 or through a smartphone app, which can be found by searching “Asheville PD” in the app store.

Asheville is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, about 125 miles northwest of Charlotte. About 10 million people visit the area each year, WLOS reported. Tourists spent $2.6 billion in 2021, according to Explore Asheville.

This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Man’s throat slashed at bus stop after asking for cigarette in NC tourist town, cops say."