BILLINGS — It was a busy night for security at Rimrock Mall in Billings on Friday—after a fight broke out that led to the stabbing of a juvenile.
According to family of the victim, he is a 13-year-old who was stabbed twice and taken to the hospital. He stayed overnight on Friday, and was released on Saturday in stable condition.
The family explained the suspect was arrested by Billings police at the scene and taken into police custody at a juvenile holding center.
According to a Tweet posted by the Billings Police Department, an altercation between two juvenile males led to a stabbing at 6:19 p.m. on Friday.
While the victim is expected to make a full recovery, it was a scary situation for all.
Crystine and Logan Bohnet were visiting Billings from Colstrip to buy each other late Christmas gifts at the mall. They also brought along their three-month-old daughter.
But what was planned to be a night of fun for the family—quickly turned to fright.
“We said bye, gave each other a kiss, and then we parted ways because we were doing some more shopping," Logan Bohnet said on Saturday. "I went to Riddle’s Jewelry, right in the food court there. All of a sudden you just hear a big commotion and stuff being thrown. I look behind me and a security guard had tackled some kid on the ground. He said, ‘I know what you did, you stabbed somebody.’”
A scary moment—made worse by the Bohnet's being separated.
When Logan Bohnet heard the security guard announce there had been a stabbing, he immediately called his wife.
“As soon as that happened, I gave my wife a call. I was like ‘Where are you at?’ because she had our little girl with her," Logan Bohnet said. “The direction where it looked like they were coming from, at least from what I’d seen, it was the way she was. So I was like, I got to go to my wife and my little girl. I was just more scared knowing they were alone."
Crystine Bohnet said she was in Journey's shopping when she noticed her husband calling.
“I was totally clueless. We had just separated, and then he was calling me, so I was like, ‘Oh, maybe he needs some help with a Christmas gift for me,' so I answered. He was like, ‘Where are you?’ and I was like, ‘I’m not going to tell you? It’s a surprise!’" Crystine Bohnet explained on Saturday. "Then he was like, ‘You went down near Champs, right?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m at Journey’s,’ and he’s like, ‘I’m coming to you right now!’ and I just knew something was wrong."
But by the time Crystine hung up the phone, her husband had found her.
"It was literally like I got off the phone and turned around and he was, boom, right there," Crystine Bohnet said. "It was really nice to have somebody so close.”
Crystine said that after their reunion, they wanted to make sure the store employee's were safe.
"(The employees) looked like teenagers. So I made sure, it’s the mom in me. I was like, ‘Are you guys going to be okay? Is somebody going to be here with you guys?’" Crystine Bohnet said. "They were really scared."
Luckily, all mall employees and patrons escaped without injury.
MTN News reached out to Rimrock Mall on Saturday for comments, but has not heard back.
“You never think it would happen to you, being in the same place as something like that, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around that it was kids," Crystine Bohnet said. "These are kids. And being a parent, like, that’s scary."
