Twenty-one-year-old Avery Nissen of Overland Park, Kansas has been charged with attempted murder and other related offenses after stabbing a boat captain in Hawaii. Photos: (L)Hawaii Nautical//(R)Hawaii Police Dept.
A Kansas man is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree assault after he stabbed a tour boat captain with a filet knife off the Kona coast in Hawaii.
Avery Nissen, a 21-year-old from Overland Park, Kansas, reportedly stabbed the 62-year-old captain while they were aboard a catamaran operated by Hawaii Nautical, a company that offers tourists snorkeling cruises, as well as day sails off Maui and the Big Island.
According to reports, the incident took place on the afternoon of April 16. At around 3:30 p.m., police and ambulance responded to a 911 call as the catamaran was returning to the Honokohau Harbor.
“At the south end, white catamaran boat with possibly two patients with injuries, one bleeding from hand, another from the lower abdomen,” a transcription of the call read. “They’re in a 50-foot sailing white catamaran reporting a stabbing, and they’re coming into the harbor.”
Police said that Stanley Lurbiecki suffered from a stab wound in his abdomen as well as multiple knife cuts to his hands and head. The crew and other passengers aboard the boat managed to subdue Nissen until they got back to the harbor. Lurbiecki was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he is in stable condition.
“Stan is stable, he’s recovering and he’s a real hero and a fighter,” said Mark Towill, owner and president of Hawaii Nautical, to Hawaii News Now. “I’m just incredibly grateful that our team is safe and that the situation ended the way it did. I’ve never heard of anything like this happening in this industry before, and just really grateful to all of our team for the way that they reacted, the professionalism that was demonstrated.”
The motive behind the attack isn’t known at the point, but a judge set Nissen’s bail amount at $1.57 million. He’s scheduled to appear in court in Kona on April 20.
