The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado is searching for a man accused of stabbing a ranger at Staunton State Park Tuesday in what is believed to be a targeted attack.

First responders took the victim to a fire station and airlifted him for treatment of a stab wound to the torso. The ranger underwent surgery and is in stable condition, according to the Denver Post.

“These were serious injuries — he was attacked with a knife, and the suspect we are looking for is wanted for attempted murder, so this could not be more serious than it is,” said Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Jacki Kelley, according to Denver’s KDVR-TV.

The sheriff’s office said on social media the suspect is a clean-shaven White man in his early 30s, about 6 feet tall, weighing 200 pounds, with brown hair. He was wearing a plain grey shirt and blue jeans at the time of the attack early Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect fled on foot following the stabbing, the sheriff’s office said.

Law enforcement did not name the suspect, but said that they believe the attack was targeted and that the suspect poses no ongoing threat to the general public. The victim is a seasonal Colorado Parks and Wildlife ranger, the sheriff’s office said on X.

As opposed to full-time rangers and wildlife officers, seasonal rangers do not wear protective vests and are not armed, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose told KDVR-TV.

The sheriff’s office lifted a temporary shelter-in-place order near the site of the stabbing and said that two persons of interest they spoke to were unrelated to the incident. Staunton State Park reopened to visitors Wednesday.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.