Ballistic body armor and knife = stabbed.

Guns are not the equivalent of knives in the area of body armor. A ROTC kid was stabbed and killed while wearing a flak vest - knife went clean thru. Yes, it was a flak vest, but it was kevlar. Bullets may have trouble penetrating a vest, knives don't. It seems knives can go thru the weave while bullets catch and stop. Shrapnel is stopped as it is irregular.

The ceramic stop plates will probably stop a knive. But then again, the stop plates only cover the heart and if you are really lucky, the kidney areas and some of the spine.