A North Texas man has been charged with aggravated assault after he allegedly carved a pentagram into his young son's back using a box cutter.
According to CBS DFW, Brent Troy Bartel of Richland Hills, Texas, told a 911 dispatcher early Wednesday that he had carved the religious symbol -- often used as a symbol of faith by Neopagans -- on his 6-year-old child because "it's a holy day."
As the AP notes, Wednesday's date is 12/12/12, a "once-in-a-century event."
"The father's call to 911 was placed at 12:10 a.m., just minutes after the day 12-12-12 began," writes NBC News. "[However] the date is not known to have any holy or religious significance."
Nonetheless, the news agency notes that the date, along with 12-12-12, has "drawn attention from numerologists and those concerned with doomsday prophecy."
In the 911 call, which was first obtained by CBS DFW, the man on the line, identified by police as Bartel, tells the dispatcher that he "shed some innocent blood." A child can be heard in the background.
LISTEN TO THE CALL IN THE VIDEO ABOVE
According to a press release from the Richland Hills Police Department, the child's mother also called 911. In her call, which was reportedly placed at a neighbor's house at about the same time, she said that her husband was "hurting" the boy.
When officers arrived, they found the boy standing in the home, shivering in pajama pants without a shirt. The pentagram covered much of the boy's back, [police] said. Investigators found a box cutter nearby and believe it was what Bartel used.
"This is something you normally hear about in the movies, not something you expect to see," police spokesman Sgt. Nathan Stringer said.
Bartel, 39, faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held in the Quad-Cities Jail in North Richland Hills in lieu of $500,000 bond.
His child was taken to a hospital and is said to be in stable condition.