Medic describes saving teen from knife attack after I-5 crash in DuPont

A combat medic who stopped to help after an SUV rolled on I-5 said two soldiers helped stop a woman from stabbing her teenage daughter as rescuers treated the family along the highway Monday morning.

Washington State Patrol (WSP) troopers said the 35-year-old Steilacoom woman attacked two girls, ages 9 and 15, after her SUV struck a semitruck and rolled near Center Drive. All three had gotten out of the vehicle before the attack.

The younger girl suffered broken bones and a stab wound. Both girls were in stable condition, according to troopers. The truck driver was not injured. The woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation and is under investigation for driving under the influence and assault, troopers said.

Sergeant Alexis McKay, a combat medic who has been an emergency medical technician since 2016, told KIRO Newsradio she was driving to work when she spotted the overturned SUV across the highway.

There were no emergency lights or sirens, she said, so she pulled onto the shoulder and stopped to help.

One of two soldiers already at the scene helped her over the median. Two EMTs arrived shortly afterward, McKay said.

McKay identified the woman as the girls’ mother. She said the younger child was crying beside her mother while the teenager was on the woman’s other side.

An EMT began treating the younger girl. McKay, who is studying to become a paramedic, began assessing the 15-year-old. Despite the damage to the SUV, McKay said the teenager initially appeared to have escaped the crash with relatively minor injuries.

Then a soldier shouted that the woman had a knife.

McKay said the woman had walked a few feet to the wreckage, retrieved the weapon, and returned to where McKay was treating the teenager.

The woman tried to stab the girl in the stomach, McKay said.

A soldier grabbed the woman’s arm as the teenager also tried to hold it away. McKay pulled the girl away while the soldiers disarmed the woman and pinned her to the ground.

McKay said the woman did not try to attack the rescuers.

“No, she went straight for her daughter,” she said.

The teenager had no shoes, so McKay gave her hers before moving her about 15 feet away from the struggle. She wanted to protect the girl’s feet from broken glass.

McKay turned the teenager away from the scene, reassured her, and checked her again for injuries.

“Thankfully, she was OK,” McKay said.

Officers, firefighters, and paramedics subsequently checked the girl, who McKay said had cuts and scrapes from the crash but no apparent life-threatening injuries.

McKay described the teenager as frightened but responsive.

“She was very afraid, but also very, very brave,” she said.

Before the attack, McKay said, the woman had seemed anxious and made remarks that did not make sense to her. McKay initially considered the behavior as consistent with someone who might be dazed after a crash.

“Had I thought for even half a second that the daughters could be in any kind of danger from their mom, we would have separated them,” she said.

McKay credited the soldiers who restrained the woman with preventing a potentially fatal attack. Without their intervention, she said, neither she nor the teenager could have stopped the knife.

The experience underscored the particular difficulty of responding to trauma involving children, McKay said. She hoped both girls would receive the help they needed.

Asked how she was doing after witnessing the attack, McKay focused on the children.

“I am fine, and I am thankful that the two girls are safe, and that’s all that matters,” McKay said.

Manda Factor is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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