A 20-year-old Maple Falls man was stabbed to death in an apparent gang attack late Saturday, Jan. 14, Whatcom County sheriff's officials said.
No one was in custody in connection with the man's death, because the stabbing appears to have been done in self-defense, said Sheriff Bill Elfo.
Elfo said detectives and crime-scene technicians were still processing evidence, and authorities had yet to discuss the case with county prosecutors.
"Still, there are strong indications that this was an issue involving self-defense," Elfo said in a phone call Sunday afternoon.
Elfo said people involved in the incident are members of a local street gang known as Insane Clown Posse, after the Detroit rap duo. Members call themselves Juggalos or Juggalettes.
More than 100 members of the gang are known to law-enforcement authorities in Whatcom County, Elfo told The Herald in 2011. Many members have extensive criminal records, he said.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Elfo said authorities were unable to release the names of both the victim and the person who stabbed him. Elfo said the man who apparently used the knife to defend himself is cooperating with detectives and didn't suffer permanent injury.
A statement issued by the Sheriff's Office early Sunday said deputies were summoned to a report of a stabbing in the Maple Falls area about 11 p.m. Saturday. Authorities said it appears that an argument occurred among a group of people, which led to a fight. During the fight, a man was struck in the head with an object. That man used a pocket knife to defend himself, stabbing his assailant, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, firefighter-paramedics with Whatcom Medic One and volunteer firefighters with Whatcom County Fire District 14 were dispatched to a report of a stabbing victim at their Kendall fire station about 11:25 p.m. Saturday. A few minutes later, firefighters were dispatched to a report of someone who had been struck in the head with a chain at another Maple Falls address.
Elfo said friends of the stabbing victim drove him in a private car to the Kendall fire station, where they sought medical care. The stabbing victim was transported by ambulance, but he died en route to the hospital.
