PORT ANGELES — A Joyce man faces a Feb. 3 trial on a charge of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon after his roommate was stabbed several times in his face and torso.
Shannon Lance Birkland, 59, pleaded not guilty when he was charged on Friday. He remained in the Clallam County jail Tuesday on $10,000 bond.
Dec. 10 assault
Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies said Shannon Lance Birkland, 59, attacked his roommate, 62-year-old Alfred Keys, with a knife the evening of Dec. 10 in the home the men shared along state Highway 112 west of Joyce, near Cannon Ball Road.
Keys was taken to Olympic Medical Center and had been treated and discharged as of Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson said.
Birkland is next set to appear in Superior Court on Jan. 7 for a case status hearing.
According to law enforcement accounts, county sheriff’s deputies and Lower Elwha Klallam tribal police came to the home the men shared at about 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 to the 9-1-1 call of a fight in which one man had been stabbed.
When law enforcement arrived, officers found Keys down on the floor of the home’s dining room bleeding from several knife wounds, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
