A Ventnor man is charged with attempted murder in a brutal stabbing that sent a Galloway Township man into emergency surgery Tuesday.
"If I had a machete, I would have chopped him up right there," Johnny Flores allegedly told police after the attack inside the apartment building where he lives. "It would have been quicker."
Surveillance video showed Flores waited for the 59-year-old victim to enter the hallway inside 11 S. Nashville Ave., and then approached him and attacked, stabbing the man 10 times, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC. Flores then grabbed the victim by the neck and choked him for an extended period of time.
The victim's name was not released. Two stab wounds were confirmed to the jugular with several to the abdomen.
Ventnor police arrived to a bloody scene at about 11:16 a.m. Tuesday, with the two men in "a physical altercation with a large amount of blood throughout the hallway," the affidavit states.
They then called for backup from Margate and the Atlantic County Sheriff's Office, Capt. David Gaeckle previously said.
The victim was rushed to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's City Campus in Atlantic City, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Flores, 35, waived his Miranda rights, and admitted to stabbing the victim several times with a kitchen knife, the affidavit states.
"I had a bigger one," he said of the knife, according to the report. "I have a bigger one. I should have used the bigger one so I should get him in the heart."
The incident was similar to an alleged attack Flores made on two officers responding to a call to his mother's Vineland home in 2016.
Flores was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed Officer John Warrington in the face and head during a fight, according to the charges reported by Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae at the time.
Another officer also was attacked, but was treated and released. The attack led to Warrington's retirement, according to a civil suit he filed against Flores and his mother in 2021.
That was dismissed by a judge.
It is unclear what happened to the criminal case, which is listed as "disposed," but does not show up at all in the public tracking system Promis/Gavel that shows cases from charge through outcome and any appellate review.
Flores also was charged with an assault on an officer Nov. 29, 2015, but that was downgraded to municipal court, records show.
He now remains in police custody, but still is not listed as an inmate in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
It was not clear if he may have been hospitalized instead.
The context surrounding several of the quotes attributed to Flores in the affidavit of probable cause is unclear.
“They were testing me," Flores is quoted as saying. "Eventually he came out. I guess he was gonna leave and not come back. I contronted. I was waiting in front of the door. My brother. You killed my brother."
He also described the victim as having an "I don't care face."
"That's when I stabbed him," Flores allegedly said.
He is in police custody, but was not yet listed as an inmate at the Atlantic County jail.
Ventnor police thanked the assisting agencies that also included the city's Fire Department and AtlantiCare paramedics.
(NOTE: This story originally ran July 15, 2025. It has been updated to include the arrest, charges and details from the affidavit of probable cause.)
