US student 'stabs classmate' while re-enacting movie scene

A university student has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his classmates while re-enacting a scene from the movie The Butterfly Effect.

Jake Wascher, 20, was working on a production in a dormitory at the University of Hartford in the US state of Connecticut on Sunday at about 1pm when he allegedly stabbed a 21-year-old in the chest and arm with a knife, The Hartford Courant reports.

The 21-year-old had been directing a film Wascher was in. A 19-year-old with the pair pleaded for the stabbing to stop and it is alleged Wascher then turned to him, stabbed him in the chest and back, threw the knife at him and fled the dorm.

A witness claims a kitchen knife about 15cm long was used.

The teenager was hospitalised in a critical condition in intensive care while the other victim has since been discharged from hospital.

Wascher was arrested at a wooded area near campus two hours after the alleged attack and told police he “left the scissors on the basketball court that I used to do it”, according to a police report seen by the Hartford Courant.

Police said the students were re-enacting a scene from the 2004 film The Butterfly Effect.

He’s been charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault.

In a statement, the University of Hartford described the incident as “frightening and unsettling”.

It added counselling is being offered to students and their families.