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A tragic incident unfolded at a Walmart late Tuesday night when an employee was fatally stabbed in what appears to have been an unprovoked attack. The suspect reportedly claimed he was targeting a “demon” he believed was pursuing him.
The Conway Police Department responded to emergency calls at approximately 10:58 p.m. regarding a stabbing at the Walmart Supercenter located on U.S. 65. Upon arrival, officers found a female employee had been attacked.
Police arrived swiftly, within about a minute, and confronted the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Zeddrick Ross, who was still wielding a knife. Despite officers’ repeated commands for him to drop the weapon, Ross refused and moved toward one of the officers.
In response, an officer discharged a shot but missed Ross, while another officer successfully deployed a Taser to subdue him.
Ross is now detained at the Faulkner County Detention Center without bond, facing charges of first-degree murder. The investigation continues as the community grapples with this senseless act of violence.
The victim, identified by police as 32-year-old Jordanne Drinkwater, was given emergency aid by officers and medical personnel but died at the scene.
Ross was then taken into custody and was booked into the Faulkner County Detention Center. Police said that no one else was injured.
Investigators said Ross was not employed by Walmart, did not know Drinkwater and had no known interaction with her prior to the attack, in what police described as an apparently random act of violence. The investigation remains ongoing.
Jordanne Drinkwater was killed in a random knife stabbing at an Arkansas Walmart Supercenter, police said. (Facebook/Jordanne Drinkwater)
According to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which cited a police affidavit, Ross told a detective he had been pursued by what he described as a “demon” and armed himself with a knife for protection.
The newspaper reported that Ross said he believed he was confronting that figure when he stabbed Drinkwater multiple times, later telling investigators he realized she did not resemble the person he thought had been following him.
The affidavit revealed that Ross told police he had stolen the knife earlier and had gone to the store intending to obtain another weapon.
According to the Conway Police Department, officers were called to the Walmart in Conway, Arkansas just before 11 p.m. after reports of a stabbing involving an employee. (Facebook/Jordanne Drinkwater)
An officer who discharged a firearm during the encounter has been placed on administrative leave, a routine step following an officer-involved shooting, the department said.
Drinkwater, who went affectionately as Puff to friends, was described as an “amazing human being.” Sam Slaughter, who knew Drinkwater for nearly 10 years, told KATV that she heard the news of her friend’s death when another friend texted her.
“I called him and I said, ‘You’re kidding. It’s not—not, not Jordan, not Puff, right? Like, that’s not Puff, right?’ And the world stopped,” Slaughter told the outlet.
“I never met somebody as, as, as pure as Jordan. It was just I don’t—I didn’t understand. I still don’t understand why it had to be her. She helped change my entire life for the better—everything from staying sober to the way I think about the world and how it works and not putting more hate into it and just trying to do better. She was an amazing human being. She’s going to be so, so missed.”
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