An employee stabbed the president of their manufacturing company during a staff meeting, police say

The president of Anderson Express, a Michigan manufacturer, was stabbed at work on Tuesday.

Authorities say they’re looking into whether a stabbing during a company meeting in Michigan might have had a “copycat” motive inspired by the recent killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York.

The Fruitport Township Police Department said in a news release that the president of the manufacturing company Anderson Express Inc. was stabbed at about 9:20 a.m. on Tuesday at the company’s address in Muskegon, about 35 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.

The police said a preliminary investigation found that a 32-year-old male employee stabbed Erik Denslow, the company president, in the side with a knife.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Denslow was said to be out of surgery and in serious but stable condition.

Anderson Express did not immediately respond to a request for comment from B-17.

The police said the suspect fled the scene in his vehicle before being stopped and taken into custody about 15 minutes later. They identified him as Nathan Joseph Mahoney.

Speaking with local media, the police said Mahoney had worked at the company for only about two weeks. The news release said fellow employees described him as having a “quiet demeanor.”

Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office records show Mahoney is being held on a more than $500,000 bond. He was arraigned Wednesday and charged with assault with intent to commit murder. Amy P. Campanelli, who is listed as Mahoney’s attorney in charging documents, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Denslow has been president of Anderson Express for a little under two years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Authorities are searching for a motive, including whether the attack was inspired by the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, who was fatally shot earlier this month, leading to a widely publicized manhunt and the subsequent arrest of a suspect.

“We haven’t ruled out copycat motive in regards to this,” Fruitport Township’s deputy police chief, Greg Poulson, told the local outlet News 8 on Wednesday.

He added: “We’re going through all his social accounts, all his electronic media, and trying to determine a motive for this act.”

Poulson also told News 8 that threatening CEOs and high-profile businesspeople “seems to be a popular thing in this day and age.”

Correction: December 20, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the location of Muskegon, Michigan. It’s northwest, not northeast, of Grand Rapids.