Haunted House Stabbing

A group of four friends went to the Nashville Nightmare haunted house a couple weeks ago. It was supposed to be a fun adventure, but it turned sour when a man in skull make up, believed to be one of the actors at the haunted house, walked up to them and handed one of the women a knife.

In the spirit of getting into the experience, they wanted to play along. So when the man asked if one of her friends was "fucking around with her," she said yes. Then he proceeded to hand her a knife and say, " Well, here, stab him".

The 29 year old women took the knife, which she thought was fake, and pierced straight through her friend's left forearm. She quickly realized it was real when she saw the blood on the knife and the blood gushing out of her friend's arm.

Her friend, 29 year old James Yochim, went to a local hospital to be treated. His wound required nine stitches. Luckily, it missed the major arteries, bones,  and tendons in his arm.

According to the police report, the group who attended the  attraction thought the entire encounter was part of the show. Yochim mentioned that they had been chased by chainsaws, people holding other weapons, and other stuff that was all fake.

One of the witnesses in their group said that he heard the man who had given the woman the knife say that he didn't realize that it was actually sharp.

Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, the company that runs the haunted house, said that they placed the employee involved on leave. They also mentioned that they are going over all of the safety protocols with all of their staff again to ensure the safety of all of their patrons.

The company has operated in the area for the past eight years, and hasn't reported any other security issues or serious injuries. They even go as far as requiring all patrons to go through metal detectors to make sure that no weapons are within the attraction.

Comments from Allen:

The victim here is lucky his friend did not stab him in the heart.

There is no crime here.  It appears that all involved had no criminal intent.

However, the stabbed patron has a cause of action against Thirteeth Floor Entertainment Group.  Anyone operating an attraction like this has an obligation to keep the experience reasonably safe for those taking part.  That didn't happen.

Whether Thirteenth Floor did or did not cause or instruct the employee to give the woman a real knife, its employee did, during the course and scope of his duties at the haunted house.  Any harm done is the responsibility of Thirteenth Floor.  Thirteenth Floor should have liability insurance to cover any harm that comes to anyone on the premises.   If Thirteenth Floor is unhappy with what its employee did, it can fire him, but it cannot dock his pay or sue him for the money it has to pay out in damages.


Sources for more information:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/a-man-was-stabbed-at-a-haunted-house-after-another-man

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/09/nashville-nightmare-stabbing-haunted-house-madison/1574236002/

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/10/10/nashville-nightmare-stabbing-haunted-house-madison/1590745002/

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