Cruise ship employee charged after allegedly stabbing three people with medical scissors

(NEW YORK) — A man accused of going on a stabbing spree with a pair of medical scissors while aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship was arrested on Tuesday and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, according to prosecutors.

Ntando Sogoni, 35, from South Africa, who was working on the Norwegian Encore ship at the time of the incident, was arrested by FBI agents in Juneau, Alaska, on Tuesday after allegedly stabbing three individuals with medical scissors on Monday.

In a press release from Alaska’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, prosecutors say Sogoni was sent to the ship’s medical center for an assessment after fellow employees noticed him “attempting to deploy a lifeboat,” but he became “irrational” and tried to leave, attacking a security guard and nurse.

Upon arrival at the medical center, prosecutors say Sogoni “physically attacked” a security guard and entered an examination room where a 75-year-old American woman was being treated.

“He grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed the woman multiple times in the arm, hand and face,” prosecutors said in the release, adding, “He also stabbed two security guards who intervened—one in the head and one in the back and shoulders.”

None of the injuries were life-threatening, prosecutors said.

After the alleged attack, Sogoni was detained and held in the ship’s jail before he was arrested when the ship docked in Juneau, according to prosecutors.

Sogoni had recently been hired by the cruise line and joined the Encore team in Seattle on the day of the attack.

The Alaska U.S. Attorney’s Office said Sogoni is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime and territorial jurisdiction and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count if convicted.

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