Drama student stabs 2 classmates while acting out scene from Ashton Kutcher movie 'The Butterfly Effect'

Hope Schreiber
·Writer


A drama student at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn., has been charged with stabbing two fellow students while they were rehearsing a scene in a movie from 2004, the Hartford Courant reports.

As part of a group project, Jake Wascher, 21, of San Diego, Calif., was tasked with acting out a scene from The Butterfly Effect with two of his male peers. According to police, Wascher stabbed them both in their chests and backs. One of the students, 19, was critically wounded; the other, 21, was seriously wounded and is expected to survive. The incident occurred at the 21-year-old victim’s on-campus apartment.

Hartford police Lt. Paul Cicero said in a statement to the Hartford Courant on Sunday night: “The suspect was ‘acting out’ a scene from a movie in which a person [or persons] gets stabbed, at which point he began to stab both victims before fleeing on foot.”

Wascher was apprehended two hours after the stabbings occurred when a Hartford officer on campus spotted a man who fit the student’s description. Wascher, upon seeing the officer, fled on foot into the woods but surrendered after more officers arrived.

The University of Hartford released the following statement:

“The University of Hartford campus community is deeply saddened by the serious incident involving the assault of two students on campus this afternoon. The injured students were immediately transported to area hospitals for treatment and law enforcement secured campus. A third student was located off-campus and has been taken into police custody. Our thoughts are with these students and their families during this difficult time. While there is no ongoing threat to campus, we recognize that this isolated incident is frightening and unsettling. The University will provide counseling services to members of our campus community in need of support or assistance. The University will continue to work closely with the Hartford Police Department in their ongoing investigation.”

Wascher is being held on a $1 million bail.

The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 science fiction thriller film starring Ashton Kutcher. Critical reception was generally poor.

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