One stabbed at Lowes Foods in Mebane

An incident at the Lowes Foods grocery store on Mebane Oaks Road in Mebane led to one person being air-lifted to a hospital, and another being arrested on charges of felonious assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflicting serious injury.

At 12:33 Friday afternoon, the Mebane Police Department responded to reports of a stabbing near or in the Beer Den, an in-store bar at Lowes Foods.  

“According to witness accounts, the suspect approached the victim and initiated a violent assault with a knife,” said a statement released by the Mebane Police Department. “Officers quickly located and arrested the suspect without incident. A knife was recovered at the scene in connection with the attack.” 

Dayson M. Hodge, 24, of Mebane, was arrested for the attack. Preliminary evidence suggested the attack to have been an isolated, non-targeted incident, with no ongoing threat to public safety. Police were still investigating a motive for the attack. 

Mebane Chief of Police Mitch McKinney said law enforcement, at this time, is unable to confirm whether or not the suspect and the victim knew each other.  

“That was our first, natural inclination that we went to to try to determine if they knew each other,” he said, “but we don’t see an indication that they knew each other. We’re still pursuing that.”

He added that it did not appear there was any interaction between the suspect and the victim prior to the attack. 

“Based on the conversation I had with the Criminal Investigations Division Lieutenant, that does not appear to be the case.” 

He added that surveillance video from Lowes Foods shows the suspect entering the store.  

“It appears that he came in, came up to our victim, and just started assaulting him,” Chief McKinney said. “We don't know if he (suspect) was impaired, or if there may be mental health issues involved, a combination of both, or if he just made a decision to do this for whatever reason. We don't know any of that information.”

The identity of the victim was not released at the time of the press conference. Chief McKinney added that he did not know the extent of the injuries, but given the need for the victim to be air-lifted, he believed the injuries to be serious. 

There were no other reported injuries at the scene. Officers conducted immediate well-being checks inside the store to address safety concerns and identify potential witnesses.

Chief McKinney said he conducted a background check on on the suspect, but there appeared to be no prior arrests or charges for Hodge.

“At least locally, in the state, he doesn't appear to have any prior criminal history,” he said. “We had one interaction with him where we were called to his home because of a noise complaint a couple of years ago, but that's the only thing that we had in our records.”

Chief McKinney added that what happened Friday afternoon at the Lowes Foods was not normal.

“This is not about our community. This is not something that happens very often,” he said. 

There was no timeline given on when the store would re-open.