A gruesome machete attack in downtown Scranton's Jermyn Apartments Tuesday evening left two women dead and a third in critical condition. Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher and Scranton police released details Wednesday afternoon, announcing the arrest of 38-year-old Michael Willie Marquis Woods, a resident of the apartment complex, who is charged with two counts of criminal homicide and one count of attempted criminal homicide.
The victims were also residents of the apartments, and the two deceased women were identified by police as 59 and 61 years old, while the injured woman is 66. Woods, who moved to Scranton from Jersey City, New Jersey, in 2020, was apprehended by police near the scene while still holding the machete. According to the affidavit, the assault on the three women and a service dog took place in a sixth-floor hallway and was captured on video surveillance, which Gallagher described as "horrific to watch." Woods reportedly told police he had smoked the hallucinogenic drug PCP before the attack, but investigators have not yet confirmed this. The motive and Woods' connection to the victims remain unclear as the investigation continues, and he is currently being held without bail at Lackawanna County Prison.