DAYTON — The man suspected of stabbing a Miami Valley Hospital nurse Thursday, Oct. 1, was able to get through a code-locked gate because the lock had been disengaged, officials say.

Hospital police chief Julian Davis said the lock was disengaged months ago to allow parking for construction workers.

The lock was re-engaged following Thursday’s attack, Davis said.

James M. Cundiff, a homeless Tier III sex offender, is in Montgomery County Jail on a felony aggravated robbery charge.

The nurse and a co-worker told police they spotted Cundiff, 42, as they walked to the parking lot on Apple Street about 8 p.m. Thursday. When he quickened his pace, he was confronted by one of the women.

Police said he grabbed that nurse’s lunch bag and purse, pulled a 10-inch, double-edged knife and stabbed her twice in the neck.

The knife missed the major artery in her neck, Sgt. Moises Perez said.

She was listed in fair condition about 3 p.m. Friday, hospital spokesman Mark Feighery said.

About the same time Friday, police found her purse and lunch sack in weeds along South Patterson Boulevard.

The attack is the second in the parking lot in the past few months.

A woman who works in the hospital’s imaging department was beaten and robbed about 11 p.m. on Aug. 31.

It’s unclear if the incidents are related. Lt. Patrick Welsh said detectives are looking at all recent robberies that have occurred within a 10-block radius of the hospital.