Jordan Andrade drove a knife through the head of Indian student Varun inside a massage room of Planet Fitness gym in Valparaiso, Indiana. (Image: Shutterstock/Representative)
Jordan Andrade thought that Varun was ‘out there to assassinate’ him and stabbed him inside the massage room of a Planet Fitness centre in Indiana’s Valparaiso.
A 24-year-old man stabbed an Indian student studying in the US fearing that the latter would assassinate him at a public gym in the state of Indiana. Jordan Andrade stabbed Varun in the head at a Planet Fitness’ massage room claiming that “someone” told him that 24-year-old Varun is “creepy” and “threatening” and feared that Varun would “assassinate him”.
The incident occurred in the city of Valparaiso in Indiana.
Andrade was detained following the incident in the gym itself. Varun has been admitted to a Fort Wayne hospital due to the severity of his injury, and was reportedly given a zero to 5% chance of survival, according to a report by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Valparaiso police said that other gym members called them to the Planet Fitness club at 1270 Strongbow Center Drive when they found Varun seated in a massage chair with a head injury, around 9am Sunday (local time).
Police said that they found a large pool of blood and a folding knife on the counter. The folding knife belonged to Andrade with which he used to open boxes at a Menards store.
Police said that Andrade told them Varun never got out of his chair and did not instigate any contact. The police said that Andrade stated that the “only physical contact was (the man) attempting to push Andrade off him after Andrade started attacking”.
When police asked him where he stabbed Varun, Andrade said: “Uh, I just put it through. I don’t even want to say it. It was in his head.”
Andrade said he acted defensively against the other man and “took him out” using the knife. Other gym goers described Varun as someone who “generally kept to himself, was quiet and reserved”.
However, Andrade felt Varun was “a little weird” and assumed him to be a threat when he entered the massage room of the gym. “Andrade then described (the man) as a threat to him so he, ‘just reacted’,” the police was quoted as saying by the The Times of Northwest Indiana.
The assailant described Varun as “little” and claims to be a former high school football player capable of bench pressing 117 kilos. The Porter Township resident remained behind bars at the Porter County Jail and will make an initial appearance on the charges Wednesday afternoon before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer.
