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(Oregonian/OregonLive file photo)

UPDATE: Suspect who appeared to be carrying human head at Thriftway was 'catatonic'

A man was in custody Sunday afternoon after he entered a grocery store in Estacada covered in blood, holding a knife and what appeared to be a human head, then stabbed an employee before being subdued.

A woman was later found dead in Colton in an incident that police are saying is connected to the grocery store stabbing.

Sandy Police and Clackamas County Sheriffs deputies responded to a 911 call from the Estacada Harvest Market Thriftway at 2:14 p.m. on Sunday after the man entered the store holding what appeared to be a human head.

Police said the man then stabbed a store employee before he was subdued and held down by other employees. The stabbing victim was transported to hospital for treatment. There was no information available on the employees' condition. The suspect was taken into custody then transported to the hospital for evaluation.

Twenty minutes after the first 911 call, another came in reporting a deceased woman inside a home on Ellwood Rd. in Colton. Deputies responded with officers from the Oregon State Police and Molalla Police and found the woman dead at the scene.

Investigators said the incidents in Colton and Estacada are connected. Sandy Police originally reported that the death investigation was at the Thriftway, but it actually occurred in Colton.

No further details were released. The Estacada Fire Department was making chaplains available for those involved in or present at the Thriftway at the time of the incident.

- Ted Sickinger

tsickinger@oregonian.com

503-221-8505; @tedsickinger