UPDATE: 48th Street Re-Opened As Stabbing Investigation Continues

Lawson Ballard (Courtesy of Lincoln Police)

LINCOLN–(KFOR Nov. 20, 2019) –Lincoln Police early Wednesday afternoon reopened a stretch of 48th Street between “O” and “M” Streets, after clearing the scene of a stabbing from early Wednesday morning.

Capt. Jake Dilsaver told KFOR NEWS officers have traced the stabbing to a fight in the area of 48th and M. Officers followed a blood trail to an apartment in the 300 block of South 48^th Street, where they located 26 year old Lawson C. Ballard. He was covered in blood, but did not appear to be injured. Ballard explained that he hired the victim to be a private investigator, but when the victim asked for more and more money over the course of the evening and morning, Ballard believed he was being scammed.

Ballard said that, as he was walking up the steps to the apartment, he turned around and began stabbing the victim. He and the victim fought over the knife, he said, and Ballard eventually shoved the victim towards 48^th Street and went back inside his apartment to clean up the blood. Officers cited Ballard for 1^st Degree Assault and Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony, both felonies.

Police said the 52 year old victim, whose name has not yet been released, was stabbed multiple times in the neck, chest and torso, resulting in life threatening injuries. He’s now being treated in a Lincoln hospital.