HOUSTON – A Houston Fire Department captain is recovering after he was stabbed in the eye by a person he was trying to rescue during a fire Friday near Highway 6, according to firefighters.
The attack happened when firefighters responded to the Kwik Kar Lube and Tune in the 2400 block of South Highway 6 at Westheimer Road.
HFD said the fire crew broke through a hole in a brick wall to rescue a person trapped inside. When they managed to breach the brick, Captain Kenneth Willingham looked inside the hole and that’s when a man sat up and stabbed the fire captain in the left eye with a pocketknife.
Willingham, a 14-year veteran of HFD, underwent surgery at Memorial Hermann on his eye. He is recovering, HFD says, with the support of his wife and three sons.
The suspect, William Morgan Johnson II, 34, was treated for smoke inhalation. He is now charged with aggravated assault on a public servant.