A man was stabbed near his eye by another fan during a Comic-Con screening during a fight over a seat on Saturday, according to police. They say violence like this has never happened before at the convention.
"Males attending the Green Hornet seminar in room H at the Comic Con got into a verbal argument,” Officer David Stafford said.
The room was crowded and a man allegedly got angry over another man sitting too close to him. Then the suspect got violent.
“Stabbing him on the side of his eye with a pen,” said Sgt. Gary Mondesir.
Police shut down Hall H, preventing any of the spectators from entering or leaving the building. An NBC San Diego photographer followed the suspect as he was being led away in handcuffs and asked the suspect why he did it.
"Because the guy attacked me first. He told me he wanted to take me outside and I told him I did not want to fight," he said. "When he came to leave the seat with his big friend he stomped on my leg and then I attacked him back. I'm very sorry."
Both men are believed to be in their mid 20's.
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It happened just before Universal Pictures was to present panels on two upcoming films — its sci-fi adventure Paul and Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens.
An NBC San Diego staffer stuck inside the hall said the Comic-Con staff played movie trailers while police investigated the stabbing.
People outside of Hall H said they were shocked by what happened.
"They took [away] an event that means so much to so many people," said Lauren McClain, who was at Comic-Con but didn't witness the attack. "That's stupid, there are no other words for it."
A writer from E! Online was in the hall during the incident and said she could see police take the suspect into custody.
"From my seat towards the rear of the massive Hall H, uniformed officers escorted a male attendee out in plastic restraints, while medics apparently wheeled out another patron on a stretcher," said E! Online's Jen Yamato.
With roughly 126,000 people attending Comic Con this year, some aren't surprised by the altercation.
"I think there are a lot of people here and whenever there are a lot of people things happen," said attendee Stefani Coats.
But police say incidents like these are extremely rare. Nonetheless, they'll take it into consideration, when they evaluate the event's security with organizers.
"We'll sit down with them and determine if there is any need to change security, change police. Those things are going to happen after the event is over," said Sgt. Mondesir.
The victim was taken to a local hospital. The suspect could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Check out all of our Comic-Con 2010 coverage including video, images and articles.
