UPDATE: Publix Stabbing Victim Released From Hospital In Sarasota

SARASOTA, FL – A suspect who reportedly stabbed a Publix employee today in Sarasota was identified this afternoon as Corey D. Scogin, 29 of Sarasota.

However, while the bizarre incident at the Bee Ridge Road store was first dispatched at approximately 10:13 a.m. as stemming from a possible shoplifting incident, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office later updated the report as a "random" stabbing.

"Despite the initial 911 call for service indicating that the suspect had 'shoplifted,' no theft actually occurred or was in progress. This incident was strictly a stabbing," the agency said. "The incident does appear to be random."

The victim, a 57-year-old female employee of the grocery store, meanwhile, was released this afternoon from Sarasota Memorial Hospital after being treated for stab wounds to her neck, according to deputies.

The suspect remains in stable condition at the same facility and is expected to be released Friday. He faces a single charge of suspected aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, deputies said.

The department added that it does not appear that Scogin and the victim knew one another.

Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies were first called to the store on the 3600 block of Bee Ridge for a suspected shoplifting -- a call upgraded to stabbing.

According to witnesses, the victim was reportedly stabbed in the back of the neck, and her assailant then began stabbing himself several times before fleeing southbound on Maceachen Boulevard toward the Beneva Ridge Apartments, deputies said.

Deputies quickly apprehended the man, and a K-9 unit located the knife used during the incident at a nearby tennis court, police said.

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