BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. — A man who entered Bayou La Batre City Hall with plans to kill police officers on Tuesday stabbed the town magistrate, who also is the mayor’s wife, news outlets reported.
Police Chief Scott Dagg told WALA-TV that a man walked into municipal offices for the coastal city of 2,500 and stabbed magistrate Marcia Barnes, the wife of Mayor Henry Barnes.
The woman was taken to a hospital and required stitches to her leg, and the mayor said his wife was the only person injured, WPMI-TV reported.
A man was in custody, but authorities didn’t immediately release his name.
“His intent was to kill law enforcement. … Attacking the magistrate was one way to get to us,” Dagg said. “He was familiar to us. Over the years, we’ve known him.”
The city, a seafood processing hub located south of Mobile on the Gulf Coast, posted on its Facebook page that City Hall was temporarily closed and municipal court was canceled for the day.
