A 30-year-old man from Milton, Florida, was arrested for aggravated battery and aggravated assault after he told two neighbors that he was going to "[kill them] with kindness," and then attacked them with a machete-style knife that he called "kindness."



The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office responded to a call last Thursday from the two victims alleging their neighbor Bryan Duane Stewart was "yelling and banging" and "saying that he was going to 'killem with kindness,'" an arrest record provided to BuzzFeed News stated.



One of the neighbors identified as Patrick McCall told police he saw Stewart running out of his house with a knife "with the word 'kindness' written on it." He was allegedly targeting another neighbor named Jessie James Hunter with the knife.



McCall said he was able to step in between Stewart and Hunter to block the knife attack, but wound up getting a cut to the hand in the melee.



Hunter told police he believed Stewart attempted to attack him in retaliation for his asking Stewart to "keep it down."



According to interviews police conducted with Stewart's girlfriend, who was home with him at the time, Stewart became increasingly agitated and paranoid about his neighbors.

"She stated that all she could hear was Stewart talking about how the next door neighbors were selling methamphetamine and the cops were being called," police noted.



Stewart was arrested and his bond has been set at $15,000.

