A 30-year-old Buffalo man accused of randomly attacking two women Sunday morning along the town’s popular Clear Creek Trail is being held on a $2 million bond while authorities prepare what the Johnson County sheriff says will be “serious charges.”
Mitchell Wilcox was taken into custody Sunday after Buffalo Police Department officers and Johnson County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an assault at about 8:17 a.m.
Both women were taken to a hospital, Johnson County Sheriff Rod Odenbach and Buffalo Police Chief Sean Bissett told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
Authorities have declined to release information about the women or the extent of their injuries.
“That’s their business, not ours,” Odenbach said of their medical conditions.
Bissett said the attack did not involve a gun or knife.
“There was a rock that was used as a weapon,” he said.
Beyond that, authorities have released few details about what happened on the trail, including what Wilcox is alleged to have done to each woman.
Law enforcement has confirmed the attack appears to have been random.
Wilcox has been charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and battery, and two counts of kidnapping, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said in a release late Tuesday.
‘Very, Very Unusual’
For people who regularly use the Clear Creek Trail, that randomness is particularly unsettling.
Buffalo resident Marcy Schueler uses the trail system about three times a week and said she has always felt safe there.
“That’s why people are kind of worried, because this has never happened, you know, ever before," she said. “As a member of the public, I would say this is very, very unusual."
The Clear Creek Trail System stretches from Buffalo west toward the mountains, with portions following Clear Creek and running roughly parallel to U.S. Highway 16.
The area where Sunday’s assault occurred is somewhat less traveled, she said, but it is hardly isolated backcountry.
“It’s a 10-minute drive at the very most, five-minute drive from town,” she said.
The trail is part of everyday life for people in Buffalo — a place for walking, running and getting outside — which is part of what made news of Sunday’s assault so jarring.
Schueler said the incident might make her more conscious about what she carries with her on the trail.
“I think most people in town are probably more curious and concerned about who got hurt and how they’re doing,” she said.
“That’s more probably on my mind, is how can we help the people that were hurt,” Schueler added. “But, you know, that’s small-town living, right?”
Wilcox was taken into custody shortly after law enforcement responded Sunday, and authorities said there is no ongoing threat to the community.
He appeared for a bond hearing Monday morning. He remained in custody Tuesday.
As of Tuesday morning, the Johnson County Circuit Court clerk told Cowboy State Daily they did not yet have information publicly available indicating when Wilcox’s next hearing would be held.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
