Man at casino suddenly attacks, wounding four

SEATTLE — A man at a poker table went on a sudden, unprovoked attack Monday night at a casino in Washington state, stabbing or slashing four people before being arrested after a high-speed car chase, authorities said.

All four victims were expected to survive, according to the Clark County Sheriff ’s Office in southwestern Washington.

The attack happened just before midnight at the New Phoenix and Last Frontier casinos, table game and poker establishments that share a building in the town of La Center. Several witnesses said the suspect was armed with what appeared to be a hunting knife.

Patrons and workers confronted the attacker, but he was able to make it to a car and fled, the sheriff ’s office said.

Deputies found the vehicle and pursued it, the sheriff ’s office said, with the chase reaching speeds of more than 100 mph. Police used an “immobilization technique” to stop the vehicle and arrested the driver.

Video from the casino showed a man sitting at a poker table before reaching down, grabbing something and then standing and stabbing the man next to him five times in the head and chest “without provocation or warning,” the sheriff ’s office said.

Several people tried to intervene, but the man began swinging the knife at them and then stabbed a woman sitting at the same table, police said. The suspect chased another man into the parking lot and stabbed him when he fell, then drove off.

It was not clear how the fourth victim was wounded. All four were taken to a nearby hospital, and three of them were treated and released.

The Clark County Sheriff ’s Office said Scott Harmier, 41, of Vancouver, Washington, is charged with four counts of felony assault.