Murder, suicide attempts shock campus

by Amelia Gonzales, feature editor

As students were returning to classes after spring break, the echoing sounds of screams for help stunned many.

Ariel Walden, 20, of Lubbock, was being attacked by her alleged boyfriend Christopher Mills, 22, also of Lubbock.

Campus police chief Joe McDowell says that because the attack is still under investigation, many of the details can still not be released.

McDowell did report that the alleged couple engaged in an argument, which started in the PE Complex and then continued outside the Complex parking lot. The weapons found at the crime scene were a shotgun and a double-edge dagger, which was used to stab
Walden repeatedly and was the same weapon that Mills then used to stab himself twice in the neck area, according to McDowell. McDowell added that it is not known whether the shotgun was pulled out with the intentions of being used.

Within minutes of the incident, campus police and EMS personnel were on site to assist in getting medical help for both Mills and Walden. Several members of the Maintenance Department and at least one faculty member attempted to provide first aid to both individuals prior to the arrival of EMS, according to eyewitnesses. Walden and Mills were transported to Covenant Hospital Levelland and then transferred to separate hospitals in Lubbock, where both were listed in serious condition at first.

As of a week after the incident, Mills has been released from University Medical Center and is being held in the Hockley County jail on a $100,000 bond. He was indicted by a Hockley Court Grand Jury on March 23. Mills has been charged with aggravated assault/attempted murder, which is classified as a felony 2, according to McDowell.

He added that Walden was moved out of the intensive care unit and recently returned home. She is now able to communicate with others, McDowell said.

Janice Black, a sophomore at SPC, says that at approximately 9:30 a.m. on March 19 she noticed a girl and a guy outside the Complex yelling back and forth at one another.

“At first I didn’t think anything of it,” says Black. “It looked like they were play wrestling with one another.”

The couple continued to grapple with one another for sometime. Black then noticed a white car turn the street corner where the couple was standing, and it was then that the young woman began to scream for help. Black says that Walden wanted to fall to the ground but Mills continued to lift her back up, only to continue his attack on her.

“I looked around for help, but no one was around,” says Black. “I ran as fast as I could to where they were at. The girl then fell completely on the ground, sitting upright with her legs straight in front of her. It was then I realized that he had a weapon in his hand. I ran into the Complex to find help, and by the time I ran back out the two were covered in blood.”

According to Black, as students began to run outside Mills was heard screaming outloud, asking himself what he had done over and over again.

Faculty and maintenance workers were first at the scene, trying to do everything possible to minimize the blood loss and keeping the two at ease until additional help arrived. Eyewitnesses say that almost instantly emergency vehicles swarmed the area, allowing little time to pass.

“I just keep replaying the entire incident in my head over and over thinking there was so much more I could have done to help,” says Black her voice choked with emotion and tears welling in her eyes, “ If only I had just reacted faster I could have prevented from either of them getting hurt.”

South Plains College student Peter Williams, a student aid in the Counseling Center, says that since the stabbing, students are on higher alert. This, he says, is something that is generally thought to occur on high school campuses. The fact that it occurred on a college campus and at SPC just astonishes so many.

“I suppose it could happen anywhere and to anyone,” says Williams.

Williams said he believes that the fast reaction of the students who dialed 911 and the fast response of EMS helped in keeping Mills and Walden alive.

David Conner, dean of students at SPC, says that like others, he is still shocked by the entire situation. He is the one responsible for updating the crime record of South Plains College to the government each year. He said that he takes pride in the fact that in the history of SPC, there had never been an incident such as the one that occurred on March 19 before. Unfortunately, he now has to change the record of aggravated assault from 0 to 1.

Conner said that instructors and friends of Walden have been able to visit with her and keep her in good spirits. The Counseling Center has been assisting students, as well as faculty, in coping with the event of March 19, according to Williams.

Ironically, Conner said that the school had scheduled a domestic violence seminar prior to this particular incident. The seminar was held on March 27 and March 28.

John Sparks, chairperson of the Communications Department at SPC, says that Walden is an extremely motivated student. He said that Walden has volunteered her time working with the SPC radio station, even though she is not a student in the class.

“She is definitely the type of student you would want to have in your class,” says Sparks.

Kim McCain, an SPC student and friend of Walden, says that it is unbelievable that something like this could happen to her or even happen at SPC. McCain has known Walden since elementary school and has was in the same Girl Scout troop with her when they were younger.

“Ariel is one of the nicest persons I have ever known,” says Mc Cain.

Because of the ongoing investigation, many other details about the stabbing incident have not been released. Additional information will be available at later dates.