SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Many questions remain unanswered after a man stabbed himself in the neck while being sentenced at the Guadalupe County Courthouse.
Charles Wyatt, 60, was taken to a hospital for treatment after the stabbing Thursday. He remains hospitalized, as of Friday afternoon.
The Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office said Wyatt was standing before a judge in a second-floor courtroom when he pulled out the weapon, possibly a knife “fashioned from plastic,” and stabbed himself in the neck.
Wyatt was sentenced to 12 years in prison just before the stabbing, for a long list of charges including ongoing sexual assault of a child, possession of child pornography and invasive visual recording.
“Plastic knives are used to cut watermelon,” Seguin resident Shelby Reimers said. “I don’t know if you knew that. They do get pretty sharp.”
Reimers was not at the courthouse when Wyatt suffered the self-inflicted wound, but said he heard about it on the news.
Katie Green, who works at a nearby children’s store but was off when it happened, had many questions when she returned after hearing about it from a friend.
It remains unclear how Wyatt had possession of a weapon in the courtroom. He was not in custody at the time of sentencing.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said Sheriff Joshua Ray is expected to give another update.
With all the security measures in place at the courthouse, Green wonders how Wyatt bypassed them.
“If you can get it in, then what else can you get in?,” Green asked, before saying, “but at the same time, if it’s plastic, then how would (deputies) know?”
Green and Reimers both said there may be a need for additional security measures, such as patting down people before entering courtrooms.
“They have to search the person,” Reimers said, “especially the ones on trial.”
Part of the sheriff’s ongoing investigation includes determining whether any changes to security procedures are needed, a spokesman said.
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