Two stabbed during altercation in vehicle on Fourth of July

Two men were seriously injured on the Fourth of July after an altercation in a vehicle near Williamsburg led to a "stabbing incident."

The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the details of the violent encounter. The incident happened about 9:00 p.m. on July 4. Police were notified when Julia Lawson, 39, of Skagg’s Branch called the Whitley County 911 Center and said she was driving toward Williamsburg to seek medical help for her husband, 44-year-old Clarence Lawson. Lawson had been stabbed several times.

Lawson was treated by Whitley County EMS for multiple cuts and puncture wounds in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Fire Department, then airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for treatment.

According to the sheriff’s department, the Lawsons were traveling with their two grandchildren and two other men when an argument started in the vehicle. The nature of the argument are still under investigation. The argument turned physically violent.

While Lawson was being treated in Williamsburg, the two other men from the vehicle were transported by a civilian to Saint Joseph’s Hospital in London. George Saylor, 44, of Molis Hollow Road, Harlan, Kentucky sustained laceration and/or puncture wounds and was airlifted from St. Joseph’s to the University of Kentucky Medical Center. The other man, Thomas G. Mills, 57, was treated at St. Joseph’s for a head injury.

During their investigation, authorities found a large amount of blood in the vehicle and around the area where the fight happened, and a broken wooden walking stick.

Julia Lawson was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. Social Services assisted in the investigation.