Beloved Texas Man Killed and Nearly Beheaded in Random Knife Attack

There is shock and outrage over the random killing and attempted beheading of an Austin-area man who touched lives across the country.Andrew Wimsatt was sitting on a park bench at Round Rock, Texas, just before 11 a.m. on Labor Day when a stranger came up behind him. The attacker started stabbing Wimsatt in the neck while wrapping his other arm around him. Security footage showed Wimsatt unsuccessfully attempting to push the man off before he fell to the ground.A criminal affidavit said the attacker then put his knee on Wimsatt’s chest and started sawing the knife across his neck in an apparent effort to behead him before running away. A woman called 911 at around 11:15 a.m. after coming across Wimsatt’s bloody body.Wimsatt was an accomplished civil engineer but had a variety of other interests, from photography to live music to archiving television clips.There was an outpouring of tributes to Wimsatt from several Fox News personalities who called him a friend. A panelist on Fox News Channel’s late night program “Gutfeld!,” Kat Timpf, said Wimsatt was a fan who became a friend. “Andrew was a rare person: Genuinely kind just for the sake of it; it quite clearly never occurred to him to expect anything in return,” Ms. Timpf said in an X post.“I am haunted and horrified thinking of his final moments, and beyond furious that this was the end the world gave him, the same world that he’d always gone out of his way to make a better place,” Ms. Timpf added.Greg Gutfeld paid tribute to Wimsatt Wednesday. “He would do anything for you and never ask for anything in return,” Mr. Gutfeld said on “The Five.” “Rest in peace,” Mr. Gutfeld added. David Burge, who has amassed a large social media following for his commentary on his Iowahawk blog, described Wimsatt as a well respected civil engineer who was also a fan of punk rock, surrealist art, and mid-century modern art. He said Wimsatt was also a supporter of libertarian causes, particularly free speech on campus. “Supernice as they come, never an angry word about anyone, which makes this all the more incomprehensible,” Mr. Burge said in an X post.“Heartbroken to learn that our good friend @ajwimsatt was murdered in Texas in a random attack. Truly one of the sweetest, kindest people I knew. Unbelievable tragedy,” podcast host Yael Bar tur said in an X post.“Andrew Wimsatt was a beautiful, gentle, generous man,” an editor at large for Reason magazine, Matt Welch, said on X. “We are reeling, and remembering him with fondness and gratitude.”Round Rock police used security footage to help track down Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu in connection with the killing. Mr. Ogbodiegwu has been charged with murder but authorities do not have a motive for the attack. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office previously stated that investigators believe the attack was random.When detectives showed Mr. Ogbodiegwu a photo of himself at the crime scene, he allegedly acknowleged it was him, but claimed not to have been at the park that morning. He also said that he had a twin brother, but could not provide the twin’s name when asked, according to the affidavit. Detectives got a search warrant for Mr. Ogbodiegwu’s home and found a 5-and-a-half-inch knife with blood on it and sweatpants with red stains.Mr. Ogbodiegwu was being held Friday at the Williamson County Jail on a $1 million bond. Court records indicated that he faced a mental health assessment.Mr. Ogbodiegwu has two prior 2026 arrests at Round Rock. In January he was arrested for theft and in June he was arrested for giving false or fictitious information.An X account that provides real-time updates on Austin crime and public safety issues, Austin Justice, reported that Wimsatt is survived by his siblings and his mother, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Wimsatt had just taken his mother for a walk and had stopped at the park moments before the attack.

Beloved Texas Man Killed and Nearly Beheaded in Random Knife Attack

Beloved Texas Man Killed and Nearly Beheaded in Random Knife Attack

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