A woman wasfatally stabbed inside a Florida Barnes & Noble bookstoreby a man who told investigators he had no motive for the attack.
The stabbing unfolded on Dec. 22 when, 40-year-old Antonio Roderick Moore told police, a "fight or flight" response overtook him and he stabbed the victim, according to a report from the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department made public on Christmas Eve.
The stabbing unfolded on Dec. 22 when the man, 40-year-old Antonio Roderick Moore, said an internal buildup led to a "fight or flight" response, overtaking him moments before the attack, according to a report from the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department made public on Christmas Eve.
Moore told investigators he came to Palm Beach County a week before the attack by bus from Georgia and stabbed Rita B. Loncharich, 65, on Dec. 22, one of the last nights of the holiday shopping season, the report said.
Loncharich died that night during surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
Moore is facing a charge of first-degree murder and is being held at the county jail without bail. During a hearing Dec. 24, Circuit Judge Donald Hafele appointed the county Public Defender's Office to represent him. As a policy, the office does not comment on open cases.
According to FBI data, stabbings using knives or other cutting instruments accounted for about 9% of homicides, or 7,547, between 2020 and 2025.
Barnes & Noble suspect says he had no prior contact with victim
The apparently random incident took place at about 8 p.m. at the Legacy Place shopping center in Palm Beach Gardens on Dec. 22. According to Moore's arrest report, officers found Loncharich unresponsive inside the store and a knife embedded in her back.
Witnesses provided officers with a description of the attacker, and they soon found Moore in a wooded area about 1,500 feet from the store's entrance. They took him into custody without incident.
According to the arrest report, Moore told officers he had gone into the Barnes & Noble store that evening with his red and blue bags and was charging his phone when he suddenly retrieved a fixed-blade knife from his jacket pocket and stabbed Loncharich. He noted that she was the closest person to him at the time.
Moore indicated that he did not have any prior interaction with Loncharich, according to the report.
On the evening of Dec. 23, customers perused shopping aisles inside the Barnes & Noble as the business returned to normal operations. A person who answered a call to the Legacy Place management office declined to comment.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post:Woman killed in Barnes & Noble stabbing in Florida. No motive offered.
