Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Two women and a service dog killed in machete attack, police say
WNEP via CNN Newsource ^ | December 22, 2025 | John Kohut

Posted on 12/12/2025 8:06:02 AM PST by crusty old prospector

SCRANTON, Pa. (WNEP) - Two women were killed and another was hospitalized from a machete attack in Pennsylvania.

Police in Scranton said they are still investigating the machete attack at the Hotel Jermyn apartments on Tuesday night.

Two women and a service dog were killed, plus a third woman was critically wounded and in the hospital.

“The vast majority of this incident, the vast majority is all on video surveillance and it is horrific to watch,” Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said. “The offender and victims were residents of the Jermyn Hotel, and the motive and reasons for his actions remain under further investigation.”>

The suspect was identified as 38-year-old Michael Woods. Police said he is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, and relocated to Lackawanna County five years ago.

Woods has lived at the Hotel Jermyn apartments for the last few years.

Police said they caught Woods leaving the apartment building wearing bloody clothing and clutching a bloody machete. It was a weapon investigators said security cameras captured him using on the three women and the dog in the building’s sixth-floor hallway.

The police response was fast and honed by training.

“We do have an extensive program for an active threat situation, and that’s what we responded to yesterday, and it validates our training.” Scranton Police Chief Thomas Carroll said during a briefing on Wednesday. “Yesterday’s response validates our training.”

Woods’ apparent motive remains unknown.

An initial review of public filings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey found no criminal cases connected to Woods. It’s also unclear if Woods had any connection to the women he’s accused of attacking, other than the fact that they lived in the same building.

Woods told police he smoked PCP, a powerful dissociative drug sometimes called angel dust, earlier in the day, but Gallagher said that was unconfirmed.

“That’s under current investigation,” Gallagher said. “We don’t know that right now. We’ll have some answers as we move forward for you, but I don’t want to speculate as to any type of drug or mental health defense or anything like that.”

Two women are dead and one was hospitalized after a machete attack in Pennsylvania. Two women are dead and one was hospitalized after a machete attack in Pennsylvania.(WNEP, SCRANTON POLICE DEPARTMENT, CNN) Outside the apartment building on Wednesday, residents were seen going about their day with the night’s horrors on everyone’s minds.

“Part of life. That’s how it is today,” Scranton resident Paul Burdulas said. “It’s sad to say it, I mean, that was inexcusable.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: angeldust; briangallagher; crime; drugs; jermynhotel; jerseycity; johnkohut; lackawannacounty; machete; mafia; michaelwoods; newjersey; pcp; pennsylvania; scranton; thomascarroll
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last
Isn’t there someone famous from Scranton? Another machete attack. We are turning into Nigeria.
1 posted on 12/12/2025 8:06:02 AM PST by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Machetes.

I bet this guy learned that from the Swedes.


2 posted on 12/12/2025 8:09:34 AM PST by Bruce Buckley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Given the man’s skin color, I’m surprised the media isn’t yelling that he was unarmed.


3 posted on 12/12/2025 8:10:30 AM PST by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector
Hotel Jermyn apartments

Sounds like one of those extended stay Section 8 ghettos.

4 posted on 12/12/2025 8:10:33 AM PST by fwdude (Why is there a "far/radical right," but damned if they'll admit that there is a far/radical left)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

More American blood on the hands of King Hakeem Skyhook, the potatohead, Chunky “I’m Not No Ways Tarred” Schumer and the bucket of crap, Pramila Gorilla The Master Swinger of the DemonRAT “Fight Club”. Wacky liberals in this country have assimilated into copies of their murdering African massas.


5 posted on 12/12/2025 8:10:48 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Freedom isn' FREE. Neither is Socialism. Somebody has to pick up the tab for the freeloaders.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Wow, yet another mere coincidence.


6 posted on 12/12/2025 8:11:32 AM PST by AppyPappy (They don't call you a Nazi because they think you are one. They do it to justify violence. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Horrible.


7 posted on 12/12/2025 8:12:09 AM PST by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Meanwhile, “Aspiring Influencer” Kevin Castillo, who goes by “povwolfy” on social media, posted videos of himself giving away bottles of vodka and unwrapped machete knives to Homeless people in Louisiana.

He does it to get ‘likes’ and followers. He was told by police that what he is doing is not illegal (if you can believe that!).
Kevin has done this in several cities since late October of this year. I can’t believe he hasn’t been thrown in jail yet.


8 posted on 12/12/2025 8:14:25 AM PST by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tell It Right

I didn’t know angel dust was still a thing. I thought it was meth and fentanyl.


9 posted on 12/12/2025 8:14:34 AM PST by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: fwdude

I can hear The Eagles crooning “Welcome to the Hotel Jermyn. Such a lovely place…”


10 posted on 12/12/2025 8:16:22 AM PST by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Hotel Germin’ apartments?


11 posted on 12/12/2025 8:17:04 AM PST by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fwdude

Applicants must meet specific guidelines to live in the Jermyn Apartments:
Target Population: 55+ or permanently disabled.
Income Guidelines: Tenants must meet minimum household income requirements of $15,000 per year, with maximum income limits based on family size.
Screening: A criminal background check and credit check are required as part of the application process.
Assistance: Section 8 housing assistance is accepted


12 posted on 12/12/2025 8:17:13 AM PST by DugwayDuke (Most pick the expert who says the things thePy agree with.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Not exactly a sterling endorsement of “the Jermyn Hotel”. Jeez.


13 posted on 12/12/2025 8:17:19 AM PST by Wally_Kalbacken
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Bruce Buckley

:: I bet this guy learned that from the Swedes. ::

The Mogadishu Swedes?


14 posted on 12/12/2025 8:17:58 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (The Democrats' official policy is now, “Hate, Violence and Murder". Change my mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Too bad the police didn’t shoot him down.


15 posted on 12/12/2025 8:19:51 AM PST by DesertRhino (When men on the chessboard, get up and tell you where to go…)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Is he registered to vote?


16 posted on 12/12/2025 8:22:48 AM PST by Ignatz ("Look, if I offend anybody today, I don't care." -Tom Homan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FlingWingFlyer

Well said!


17 posted on 12/12/2025 8:23:53 AM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector
Woods’ apparent motive remains unknown.

John Kohut, if his motive remains unknown, then you shouldn't have used apparent in the sentence. I hope for this nation's sake, you dropped out of high school. If you went to college, we are screwed as a society.

18 posted on 12/12/2025 8:24:33 AM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bruce Buckley

This being Pennsylvania, no doubt from the famous machete killers, the Amish.


19 posted on 12/12/2025 8:26:50 AM PST by Old West Conservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Robert DeLong

He gets paid by the word.


20 posted on 12/12/2025 8:26:58 AM PST by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson