PHOENIX — One person is dead following a stabbing in west Phoenix, the city's police department said.
Phoenix police officers responded to the area of Indian School Road and Interstate 17 around 12:30 a.m. Saturday for a stabbing call.
Police found the victim with a stab wound on his neck and arrested the suspect, 37-year-old Robert Downs, nearby. The victim died on the scene.
According to court documents, surveillance video from a nearby convenience store showed Downs having a brief conversation with the victim. The victim then turned to leave on a bike when Downs pulled out a knife and attacked him.
After Downs was arrested, he reportedly told police that he acted in self defense and believed that "people were looking for him and wanted to harm him for things that happened in Las Vegas in the past."
Downs reportedly believed that the victim was associated with those people. He also reportedly admitted to having used methamphetamine shortly before the incident.
Police did not find a firearm or any other weapon on or near the victim. He has not been identified at this time.
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