A man has been taken into custody in connection with a series of random stabbings over two days in Seattle, which left nine people injured, including five on Friday afternoon, according to police.
“This incident involved an individual committing random assaults over a span of 38 hours,” said Deputy Chief Eric Barden at the scene on Friday.
The Friday afternoon attacks occurred within a roughly four-block area of Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Witnesses provided a description of the suspect, and officers located and arrested him nearby. Police said a weapon was found near the suspect, with a knife reportedly lodged in one of the victims.
Four victims were transported to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, while one was treated on-site and released. A spokesperson for Harborview confirmed that four victims were hospitalized, all initially in critical condition. By Friday evening, two remained in critical condition, one had been upgraded to serious condition, and one was in satisfactory condition.
Barden indicated that authorities suspect the arrested individual may also be responsible for at least four additional stabbings that began early Thursday, based on similar suspect descriptions and the random nature of the attacks. The investigation is ongoing.
The first stabbing on Thursday in Chinatown involved a 52-year-old woman who sustained multiple stab wounds. Later that day, a 32-year-old man was found with multiple stab wounds, and around 8 p.m., a 37-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the back.
Early Friday morning, officers responding to an assault call discovered a 53-year-old man with a severe neck injury. A blood trail led officers to a nearby doorway, but attempts to use police dogs to track a suspect were unsuccessful.
“All victims are alive as far as we know,” Barden said on Friday afternoon.
Police mentioned a tenth stabbing incident on Thursday night linked to a cellphone robbery, where someone forced open a vehicle door and attempted to stab a 60-year-old man in the chest. The man blocked the attack, sustaining a cut on his hand. It remains unclear if this incident is connected to the random assaults, police said.
No comments:
Post a Comment