Police say Davier Massey returned to a Planet Fitness one day after being banned over an unpaid bill and attacked a worker during his second visit on Thursday.
WYNCOTE, Pa. — A 28-year-old Philadelphia man is charged with attempted murder after police said he returned to a Planet Fitness in suburban Montgomery County on Thursday and stabbed an employee multiple times during a second confrontation at the gym.
The case quickly moved from a daytime emergency call inside a busy shopping center to a serious felony prosecution. Investigators say Davier Massey had been banned from the gym the day before because of an unpaid bill, then came back twice on April 2 and caused a disturbance both times. During the second visit, police said, an argument with an employee turned violent and left the worker with life-threatening injuries. By Friday, Massey had been charged, denied bail and ordered held in county jail while the employee remained in the hospital and the investigation continued.
Police and emergency crews were called to the Planet Fitness in Cedarbrook Plaza, in the 1000 block of South Easton Road, at about 12:33 p.m. Thursday. The gym sits in the Wyncote section of Cheltenham Township, a close-in suburb just north of Philadelphia. Officers who arrived found a male employee with multiple stab wounds and rushed him to an area trauma center, according to police and local television reports. Early coverage said the injuries were life-threatening. Authorities said Massey was caught a short distance away in the same shopping center soon after the attack. In the first hours after the stabbing, police did not publicly identify either man. By Friday night, however, charging documents and police statements had filled in the central timeline. Investigators said Massey had been banned on Wednesday because of an unpaid membership bill, returned to the gym twice on Thursday and, during the second visit, got into an altercation that escalated into the stabbing.
The public record now gives a clear outline of what police say happened, though not every detail. Massey, identified by police as a Philadelphia resident, faces attempted murder, aggravated assault and several additional charges tied to the confrontation inside the gym. Authorities have also listed reckless endangerment, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault, terroristic threats, criminal mischief, harassment and disorderly conduct. Those charges show prosecutors are treating the incident not as a brief scuffle but as a sustained and dangerous attack inside a business open in the middle of the day. Still, several points remain unclear. Police have not publicly described the exchange that led from the disturbance to the stabbing. They have not said whether any other workers or members tried to intervene, how long the fight lasted or whether surveillance video captured the full encounter. Authorities also have not publicly explained the suspect’s condition after his arrest, though early reports said he was taken to a hospital before charges were filed.
The setting added to the shock. The stabbing happened at a national gym chain built around routine and repetition, with members coming in for lunch-hour workouts and workers expecting an ordinary weekday afternoon. Instead, the gym was shut down after the attack, and people who arrived later found a sign saying it was closed because of an unexpected emergency. Witnesses and members described disbelief more than panic once the scene stabilized and police had taken the suspect into custody. One member, George Kanattu of Cheltenham Township, told 6abc, “It’s a little scary,” a remark that captured how quickly a familiar errand turned into a violent crime scene. Another member, Tene Bullock, said the attack was hard to process because nothing like it had happened there before. Their comments underscored a basic fact of the case. This was not a late-night street encounter or an isolated place. It happened in a commercial plaza, at a gym, during the workday, in front of the kind of people who usually expect little more than a short workout and a trip home.
Planet Fitness responded with a brief statement that emphasized the injured employee rather than the suspect. The company said it was saddened by what happened at its Cheltenham location and added, “Our thoughts are with the team member as they recover.” It also thanked local law enforcement for responding quickly and said the franchise owner was fully supporting the investigation. That statement matched the tone of the official reporting, which has remained focused on the worker’s injuries and the criminal case rather than on any wider dispute over billing or membership practices. Police have said the unpaid bill explains why Massey had been banned, but they have not said it was the motive for the attack. That distinction matters because the unpaid account appears to be the reason he was no longer allowed inside the gym, not a full explanation for why the confrontation turned violent the next day. As of Sunday, the victim’s name still had not been widely released in public reports, and authorities had only said he was recovering in the hospital.
The legal path ahead is already set. Court record summaries in local coverage show Massey was arraigned Friday morning before Judge Patrick O. Krouse, and bail was denied. He is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility while the case moves forward. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 16 at 10 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Christopher J. Cerski. That hearing is expected to be the next public step in the case and could offer more detail about the evidence, witness accounts and the sequence inside the gym. For now, prosecutors appear to be relying on the seriousness of the wounds, the police account of the two returns to the business and the conduct alleged during the confrontation itself. Investigators have said the case remains open and have asked anyone who witnessed the incident or has information to contact Cheltenham detectives. That request suggests police may still be collecting statements from members, workers and others who were in or near the gym when the attack happened.
The attack also landed in a region where violent crime stories often travel fast because the places involved are so familiar. Cedarbrook Plaza is a known stop for nearby residents, and the Wyncote gym serves people from Cheltenham, Philadelphia and neighboring communities. That made the story feel both local and unusually public. A worker doing his job was badly hurt in a place built to sell normalcy, and the person accused had reportedly been barred from entering only a day earlier. The gap between those two moments was less than 24 hours. By the end of Friday, the outline was stark. A ban over a delinquent account had turned into an attempted murder case. A gym employee was recovering from multiple stab wounds. A suspect had been jailed without bail. And members who showed up expecting treadmills and weight machines instead found police tape, closed doors and news crews asking how something like this could happen here.
As of Sunday, the criminal case was still in its earliest stage, but the immediate questions had narrowed. Massey was in custody, the worker was recovering, and the next court date was set for April 16. The larger unknowns now center on motive, evidence and what witnesses saw inside the gym.
Author note: Last updated April 5, 2026.