Police: Man arrested for machete attacks at Dick's Sporting Goods in Patchogue

Officers say Treyvius Tunstall, 22, was at the Dick's Sporting Goods on Sunrise Highway after 3 p.m. when he asked an employee about purchasing rifles. They say he quickly displayed his ID before walking away from the counter when he heard that there would be a background check.

Police say that's when Tunstall went to a different area of the store and took out a machete. They say he proceeded to attack the store manager who suffered serious injuries. He was treated at Stony Brook University Hospital and is expected to be okay.

"All the more reason why he shouldn't have a rifle, that's not someone you want with a gun," said David O'Toole, Holbrook.

As Tunstall fled the store, officers say he hit a customer with the machete and another man in the parking lot. Those victims were treated for minor injuries.

Detectives say two hours before the attack, Tunstall went to the Dicks in Bay Shore where he bought the machete and a knife. They say he tried to purchase a rifle there, but they didn't have any in stock and instead referred him to the Patchogue location.

"If he was able to purchase a rifle, who knows what he was planning to do with it then," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison. "Again, you have a man that has some issues running around with a machete, hurting people."

Police say Tunstall has been arrested in the past on burglary charges and for threatening his mother with a knife.

Tunstall is charged with several counts of assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

He is being held on $800,000 bond and will be back in court on Thursday.

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