DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A man who stabbed a library worker near and possibly in her eye using a pair of scissors didn’t say anything before or during the random attack except for “hello,” according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.
The 63-year-old Daytona Beach Regional Library employee, who suffered a broken nose, swelling and bruising to her left eye, a possible stab wound to her left eye and various cuts on her face, said she had seen 55-year-old Burman P. Bedford while working at the library but she didn’t know him, records show.
Police wrote in their report that surveillance video taken before Tuesday’s attack showed Bedford waved at the victim while he was in the children’s section and she was working at her desk. Then as he was in the computer lab area, he could be seen staring at her, according to the affidavit.
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Police said Bedford appeared to have an object in his hand as he walked toward the victim, went into the area where she was seated, ran toward her and struck her in the face with a closed fist.
The victim fell at that point and Bedford stood over her and struck her in the face four times “with a closed fist in a hammer strike or stabbing motion” as she fell to the ground again, according to authorities.
After that, police said Bedford walked over to the children’s section until they arrived.
A witness said he heard the victim yell, “He hit me,” so he told his partner to call 911 as he stayed with the victim.
Bedford appeared calm and when he saw officers approaching, he dropped a pair of scissors with a blue handle and “a large amount of hair on the ground in front of him,” according to the affidavit.
Police said the victim was hiding in a locked office with other employees, bleeding profusely from her left eye to the point that it was not visible. Blood was found on Bedford’s hand, in the main area of the library and on the victim’s desk, records show.
She said all Bedford said during the attack was “hello,” according to authorities.
Records show multiple people called 911 to report the crime but they weren’t sure exactly what happened.
“We’ve just been informed that one of our staff members was attacked by a patron and is bleeding. I don’t know any more details than that, we just had somebody run up from there so I’m not sure what’s really going on down there,” one caller said.
Another caller said the victim was “bleeding really badly.”
“We just had a staff member attacked and they need to go to a hospital," he said.
Bedford is facing charges of burglary with assault or battery, aggravated battery using a deadly weapon and aggravated battery on a community provider.