Encinal police report roomies’ argument ended in stabbing

Emergency responders were dispatched to an apartment on Berry Street in Encinal on Saturday afternoon, June 20, to find that a local resident appeared to have been stabbed by his roommate.

Identified as Austin Thomas Glenn, 29, the suspect in the case has been remanded into custody and remained behind bars earlier this week on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

Encinal Police Chief Pablo Balboa said this week that investigations into the apparent assault showed that Glenn and his 31-year-old roommate had argued over food in their apartment and the altercation had turned violent, at which time Glenn is believed to have used a hunting knife to stab his roommate in the abdomen.

An emergency dispatch call for an ambulance regarding a knife assault had brought paramedics from the La Salle Fire Rescue and law enforcement officers, first troopers of the Texas

Highway Patrol and then the Encinal PD, which is being assisted in its investigation by the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office.

Weather conditions Saturday afternoon prevented an emergency airlift, the police chief said, and the victim was transported by ambulance to Doctors Hospital in Laredo, where he was listed in stable condition Monday.

Glenn was booked into the La Salle County Jail Saturday evening.

“We are shocked by this incident,” Chief Balboa said in an interview Monday. “We are very familiar with the victim in the case, as he is known locally for walking to City Hall and helping out in several community projects, such as the food bank and local charity events. He is an all-round good guy, always willing to help. We are saddened to hear of his injury.”