MANCHESTER - Police said a stabbing Wednesday morning resulted from a dispute between two employees of a painting contractor doing work at Southern New Hampshire University’s Merrimack Hall, 2500 N. River Road.

Steve Boucher, SNHU director of Marketing and Communications, said the two vendors had a dispute and one of them stabbed the other.

Police said the 41-year-old victim, who sustained a serious stab wound to the abdomen, was transported by ambulance to the Elliot Hospital for treatment.

Police charged a Somerville, Mass., resident, Jose DaSilva, with first-degree assault. Police said the stabbing victim was also a Somerville resident.

The two men were vendors under contract to paint Merrimack Hall, according to Boucher. He said no student was involved in the incident and no students were in danger.