Man accused of stabbing four people at Cogans Pizza

Police say victim has life-threatening injuries

Posted: Oct 31, 2019 / 04:25 AM EDT

Updated: Aug 10, 2020 / 09:30 AM EDT

UPDATE: During a July 29 hearing, one of the four malicious wounding charges against Joshua Fisers was certified to a grand jury. The other three charges were nolle prosequi, or withdrawn.

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A suspect accused of stabbing four people in Norfolk was taken into custody Friday afternoon.

Police say 30-year-old Joshua D. Fisers turned himself in and was charged with four counts of malicious wounding. He is being held in Norfolk City Jail with no bond.

Joshua Fisers (Photo courtesy: Norfolk Police)

Officers were called to Cogans Pizza at 1901 Colonial Avenue in Ghent after a verbal argument turned physical around 1:35 a.m. Thursday.

Upon arrival, first responders found a 34-year-old man suffering from stab wounds. He was transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

At the scene, responders found three additional men with stab wounds, although their injuries are not considered life-threatening.

A preliminary investigation by police revealed the three men were injured as they tried to break up the fight between the 34-year-old and the suspect.

Police say the suspect, who they identified as Fiser, fled the scene before officers arrived.

10 On Your Side spoke to witness Corey Jones, who said it started with a fight inside the restaurant that ended outside. Jones said he saw the victim get stabbed in the face.

“I’m really distraught about what happened and what I saw. It could have been me. It could have been anybody,” Jones said.

A woman who identified herself only as Garcia said she’s a regular customer of Cogans, especially on Wednesdays for karaoke night.

“Usually you see that kind of stuff on the other side of the train tracks,” she said as she pointed northward up Colonial Avenue.

Garcia says it’s a generally safe section of Ghent, and she’s not afraid to take her middle-school-aged daughter to Cogans occasionally.

“We love Cogans, it’s her favorite spot for her and her little buddies. The fact that this happened in this neighborhood, it’s getting crazy.”

But it’s not enough to keep Garcia and her daughter away from Cogans in the future.

“This is an isolated incident. I don’t think it’s gonna happen again.”