Blanchard Glaudin Spring Valley NY man stabs Finkelstein Memorial Library security guard to death after asking him to turn down music from his phone.
A Spring Valley, NY man has been arrested after stabbing to death a female security guard at a Rockland County library after being asked to turn down music he was playing on his phone.
Blanchard Glaudin, 25, was charged with second-degree murder after being tackled by patrons at the Finkelstein Memorial Library The Journal News/lohud.com reports.
‘He was walking just a few feet away,’ village Police Chief Paul Modica said Wednesday about the ‘random’ confrontation which took place Tuesday afternoon at the normally quiet ‘safe space’ 3rd floor library.
‘She was at the computer terminals and told him he had to turn it down. That was it,’ Modica said, referring to Sandra Wilson, 52, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Modica said Glaudin confessed to the stabbing while showing ‘no remorse at all.’
Suspect and victim had previous ‘encounters’:
Wilson, who had two grown sons and a grandchild, had worked in clerical jobs at the library before joining its security team.
Rockland DA Thomas Walsh II commended ‘the brave citizens, who reacted without fear for their safety, by subduing the suspect. We will ensure that justice is served in this horrible crime.’
Modica said Glaudin had previously lived in Florida, where ‘he had some run-ins,’ but did not provide details about the suspect.
He also said he did not know if any library security guards were armed, adding that ‘a couple retired police officers work there.’
Abigail Jean-Marie, a library co-worker, told of Wilson having previous unpleasant encounters with the suspect.
‘He would harass her, she would tell me that one day he asked her to be his girlfriend, and she was like no – he was constantly bothering her,’ Jean-Marie told via nycbslocal. ‘I didn’t think anything of it at the time, he was just a very strange person that would come into the library.’
Family and co-workers try to make sense of senseless stabbing:
Modica said his thoughts go out to Wilson’s family and her co-workers.
‘They were taking it pretty hard,’ Modica said of the staff and patrons who witnessed the stabbing. ‘It really was a horrific thing.’
‘She truly, truly understood what it meant to be a sister, a mom, a daughter,’ said the victim’s brother, Ronnie Wilson. ‘She always put her best foot forward. Always smiling, always trying to help people.’
Authorities have yet to say what motivated the suspect in fatally stabbing his victim as co workers and the community struggle to make sense of the seemingly senseless crime. It is thought mental health issues also might have been a factor.
The library which was closed after Tuesday’s ‘tragic encounter’ is expected to reopen on Monday.
