Student stabbed in Brown Hall

By IAN LACK Reporter

An investigation is underway into the stabbing of a South Dakota State student on the first floor of Brown Hall, which occurred during the early morning on Feb. 26.

University Campus Police and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation are conducting the investigation.

The victim, a male student, is in stable condition, after being airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital.

University authorities have identified Lucky Mai, 19, as the perpetrator. Mai is not a student at SDSU and was staying in friends’ dorm after being removed from SDSU on Friday, according to court documents.

Mai was alone in the room and went to bed around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. He left the door unlocked for his friends when they returned, reported KDLT news. 

Mai woke up around 4:45 a.m. to find an naked, unknown person inside the dorm and urinating on objects, reported by KDLT news.

The individual then laid down next to Mai. Causing confrontation to break out between the two. Scared, Mai took a knife on the dresser and stabbed him six times, saying he acted in self defense.

A Brown Hall community assistant was alerted to the confrontation between Mai and the student. The CA contacted university police, who arrested Mai when they arrived at the scene. SDSU’s policy on weapons restricts blades within residence halls that are longer than four inches.

“Lucky Mai wasn’t a guest of the student’s,” said Mike Lockrem, director of University Marketing and Communications. “A break-in didn’t occur for the stabber to enter the building, because he was a guest of another person in the hall.”

Mai is in custody on an aggravated assault charge,. with a $75,000 cash-only bond.

“I think we just want to add that this is a safe campus and, fortunately, events like this don’t happen often. Everyone is affected differently by things like this,” said Don Challis, assistant vice president of Safety and Security. “We want to make sure that we encourage students to use counseling services as they’re needed.”