Missoula Man Gets Attacked With a Knife at an Albertsons Parking Lot

At around 2:50pm on Sunday, Missoula City Police Officers were dispatched to the 2205 Oxford Street shopping center’s parking lot for a reported knife attack. An officer arrived on scene and found the victim at FirstCare where his right arm wound was being treated. Police Public Information Officer Lydia Arnold explains.

“45-year-old Shane Davis is currently being held at the Missoula County Jail on charges for assault with a weapon and other related charges,” Arnold said. “In the preliminary investigation, officers learned a male victim was attacked with a sharp object in the parking lot of Albertsons. The attack was completely unprovoked by Davis and he had no connection to the male victim. Officers observed a substantial amount of blood and were able to speak with the initial medical personnel who treated the victim and described the bleeding as severe.”

A nurse told the officer that the victim’s injury appeared to be an arterial bleed based on the severity of bleeding prior to applying dressing and a tourniquet.

“In the preliminary investigation, officers conducted interviews with witnesses who had observed the incident,” Arnold said. “Officers also collected evidence. Davis was located by officers at his place of employment and taken into custody. MPD Detectives became involved in the incident and continued the investigation. The current medical condition of the victim is unknown.”

Officers were called to Albertsons where a manager had been reviewing surveillance video. The manager saw Davis enter a shipping bay and then throw an object. An officer responded to the shipping bay and retrieved a ladder to examine high shelving. The officer observed an extremely dusty shelf, which had a knife that was the only object on the shelf without dust. The officer then collected the knife into evidence.

The victim stated that he just parked and exited his vehicle when a stranger approached him. He said Davis yelled something at him and then cut him with something, possibly a knife.

Court documents indicate Davis made multiple statements regarding not meaning “to do it” and that the victim was throwing punches at him. No other witness to the assault mentioned any punches being thrown.

Davis is currently being charged with felony assault with a weapon and tampering with evidence.