A 35-year-old crew member was arrested by the FBI on criminal charges for allegedly stabbing multiple people with medical scissors on board a cruise ship. On Tuesday, May 7, FBI agents boarded the cruise ship Norwegian Encore in Juneau and arrested Ntando Sogoni from South Africa after he stabbed two security officers and one passenger at the shipboard medical facility.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, the incident happened on May 6 when the crew member was seen trying to release a lifeboat. The security officers reacted to the scene, apprehended the crew member, and escorted him for examination at the ship’s medical center.

The confrontation escalated in the medical center where the crew member assaulted a security guard and a male nurse. He then moved into another room where a female passenger, a U.S. citizen, was undergoing examination. The crew member seized a pair of scissors and repeatedly stabbed the woman in her arm, hand, and face. Two security officers who stepped in were also stabbed—one in the head and the other in the back and shoulders. The crew member was quickly restrained and held in the ship’s brig until his arrest.

Ntando Sogoni is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime and territorial jurisdiction in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(3). If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents, the crew member joined the cruise ship one day prior to the attack at the port of Seattle on May 5. This was the crew member's first contract.

The case is under investigation by the FBI Anchorage Field Office, FBI Juneau Resident Agency, and the Coast Guard Investigative Service.