Last Frontier Casino Stabbing Spree: New Details of ‘Chuckling’ Attacker

Posted on: December 19, 2022, 04:25h. 

Last updated on: December 19, 2022, 05:42h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

The man arrested last week on suspicion of carrying out a “random, unprovoked” knife attack during a poker game at a Washington State casino has a lengthy criminal record, including numerous convictions for assault.

Scott Harmier
Scott Harmier, above, appeared in the Clark County Superior Court in Vancouver, Wash. last Wednesday. He has been charged with four counts of first-degree assault and one count of attempting to elude police. (Image: The Columbian)

That’s according to prosecutors who described Scott Harmier, 41, as a “danger to the public” at a Clark County Court hearing in Vancouver, Wash. last week.

The judge set his bail at $1.5 million.

Sore Loser?

The defendant, clad in a white hoodie, was playing a poker game last Monday at the Last Frontier Casino in La Center shortly before midnight. That’s when he calmly bent over and allegedly began stabbing the player to his left in the head with a hunting knife.

Investigators who examined security footage said Harmier then began attacking the woman who had been positioned to his right at the table.

When other casino patrons tried to tackle Harmier, he swung the weapon at them, according to court documents. He then chased a man out into the parking lot. When the victim fell to the ground, Harmier allegedly stabbed him twice.

He then fled the casino in a white Nissan sedan, according to witnesses.

The total number of victims of Harmier’s alleged rampage was five, not four, as reported last week. A man and a woman were stabbed in the head and another woman was stabbed twice in the neck, according to court documents. Another man was stabbed in the forehead, wrist, and shoulder, close to an artery. Meanwhile, a security guard was stabbed while trying to intervene.

Four of the victims were admitted to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver for treatment and later released.

Police Chase

Deputies spotted Harmier’s vehicle traveling south on Interstate 205 toward the Oregon state line shortly after midnight and engaged in pursuit.

The Nissan was driving at speeds between 90 and 130 mph, according to the arrest report. Deputies tried unsuccessfully to halt the car using spike strips. It was eventually stopped by a pursuit immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver.

As a deputy approached the car and told Harmier to show his hands, the suspect “lit a cigarette and started smoking it as he smiled,” police said.

Harmier was “chuckling” as he was taken into custody, according to the report.

Court records do not indicate a motive for the attack.