A Boulder Barnes and Noble employee was stabbed after a confrontation with someone trying to shoplift Thursday afternoon.

Boulder Police responded to the stabbing at 3:06 p.m. Thursday at the Barnes and Noble, 2999 Pearl St., near 28th Street in Boulder, according to a news release.

Officers were on scene within one minute of the call, according to police, and took the suspect, 42-year-old Scott Schwelling into custody. Schwelling faces charges of felony first degree assault.

An initial investigation indicates that Schwelling allegedly stole an item from the store and was confronted by the victim, a 52-year-old male store employee.

During the confrontation, the suspect stabbed the employee and ran away, according to the release.

The victim was taken to the hospital and later released, according to police.

At the time of the stabbing, police said they did not believe there was an immediate threat to the public. There was a large police presence in the area while officials investigated.

Jesse Montana, the store manager at Car Toys — which shares a parking lot with the Barnes and Noble — said he heard about the incident and watched the police search the area. Car Toys did not have use of its garage for a while in the afternoon while police investigated, Montana said.

While serious incidents, like the stabbing, are rare in the area, more minor incidents are pretty common, Montana said. He said there is a large homeless encampment next to the area and he often sees people yelling or being disruptive in the lot.

Montana said he heard from others that the suspect was homeless. Police did not confirm.

Barnes and Noble declined to speak with the Denver Gazette about the incident.