SCRANTON, Pa. (WNEP) – Two women were killed and another was hospitalized from a machete attack in Pennsylvania.
Police in Scranton said they are still investigating the machete attack at the Hotel Jermyn apartments on Tuesday night.
Two women and a service dog were killed, plus a third woman was critically wounded and in the hospital.
“The vast majority of this incident, the vast majority is all on video surveillance and it is horrific to watch,” Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said. “The offender and victims were residents of the Jermyn Hotel, and the motive and reasons for his actions remain under further investigation.”
The suspect was identified as 38-year-old Michael Woods. Police said he is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, and relocated to Lackawanna County five years ago.
Woods has lived at the Hotel Jermyn apartments for the last few years.
Police said they caught Woods leaving the apartment building wearing bloody clothing and clutching a bloody machete. It was a weapon investigators said security cameras captured him using on the three women and the dog in the building’s sixth-floor hallway.
The police response was fast and honed by training.
“We do have an extensive program for an active threat situation, and that’s what we responded to yesterday, and it validates our training.” Scranton Police Chief Thomas Carroll said during a briefing on Wednesday. “Yesterday’s response validates our training.”
Woods’ apparent motive remains unknown.
An initial review of public filings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey found no criminal cases connected to Woods. It’s also unclear if Woods had any connection to the women he’s accused of attacking, other than the fact that they lived in the same building.
Woods told police he smoked PCP, a powerful dissociative drug sometimes called angel dust, earlier in the day, but Gallagher said that was unconfirmed.
“That’s under current investigation,” Gallagher said. “We don’t know that right now. We’ll have some answers as we move forward for you, but I don’t want to speculate as to any type of drug or mental health defense or anything like that.”
Two women are dead and one was hospitalized after a machete attack in Pennsylvania.(WNEP, SCRANTON POLICE DEPARTMENT, CNN)
Outside the apartment building on Wednesday, residents were seen going about their day with the night’s horrors on everyone’s minds.
“Part of life. That’s how it is today,” Scranton resident Paul Burdulas said. “It’s sad to say it, I mean, that was inexcusable.”
Erik Zimmerman started moving out last week and stopped by to grab the last of his stuff. He’s glad he wasn’t at the building on Tuesday night
“I probably do know the gentleman. It’s like nice, older people, veterans, just your regular type people,” Zimmerman described. “It’s a nice, quiet place. It’s a nice place, so it’s pretty shocking.
Woods remains locked up at the Lackawanna County Prison without bail. He’s due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 23.
Copyright 2025 WNEP via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.