A late-morning argument along North Broadway ended with a 37-year-old man stabbed in the back and a 57-year-old Knoxville man facing an attempted murder charge, according to police. The victim suffered a large laceration on his back and was rushed to the hospital, where he is expected to survive.
The Knoxville Police Department said in a news release that officers were called around 11:40 a.m. on June 5 to the 2500 block of North Broadway, where they found the injured man and began an investigation. Officials identified the suspect as Herbert Michael Russell, 57, who was arrested near the scene and charged with attempted second-degree murder. The department said the victim was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for treatment and is expected to recover. Read the full statement from the Knoxville Police Department.
Local station WVLT, citing the same police statement, reported that the victim had been cut along his back and that officers quickly took Russell into custody near where the stabbing happened. WVLT published the initial account.
Where It Happened
The stabbing took place in the 2500 block of North Broadway, a stretch that has already seen more than its share of violent headlines in recent months. Hoodline previously covered a months-long investigation into a September 2025 assault at a nearby shopping center that resulted in a homicide indictment, describing it as the Broadway shopping center killing. The latest case adds one more entry to a corridor that keeps resurfacing in local crime reports.
Legal Note
Russell is charged with attempted second-degree murder, a serious felony under Tennessee law. Second-degree murder is defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-210, while the criminal-attempt statute is Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101. Together, prosecutors must show that the defendant took a substantial step toward a knowing attempt to cause another person’s death. The statutes are available at Tenn. Code § 39-13-210 and Tenn. Code § 39-12-101.
Russell remains in custody and will move through the Knox County court system as detectives continue to investigate, according to police. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the Knoxville Police Department’s public information office or reach out anonymously to East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers.
