Luke O’Donovan, 19, is accused of stabbing five people during a New Year’s Eve Party in Reynoldstown, a neighborhood near downtown Atlanta. Police call it a rampage but his friend, Esme Jarrell, said it was self-defense.

“There were, like, 15 to 25 people surrounding him, kicking him the ribs and stomping on him,” she said.

She described the attackers as people who were simply offended by the fact that O’Donovan is gay.

“He did what he needed to do to save himself,” she said.

But Atlanta Police are more concerned with the fact that five people were stabbed – one critically. O’Donovan was arrested shortly after the stabbings in the early hours of January 1. He remains behind bars without bond, awaiting a hearing later this month.