Washington City, Seattle — Nine people were hurt in a series of random stabbings in Seattle over two days. Five of them were hurt on Friday afternoon, and a man has been arrested in connection with the crimes.
“This seems to have been one person randomly attacking people over 38 hours,” Deputy Chief Eric Barden said at the scene on Friday.
People were stabbed in a four-block area in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District on Friday afternoon.
Police said they found the suspect nearby after witnesses gave them a description of him. They then arrested him. Police say they found a weapon near the person who was caught and a knife stuck in one of the victims.
Four of the people who were hurt were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and one was treated at the scene and sent home. A spokesperson for Harborview stated that four people were at the hospital and said that all of them were in critical condition. One had been moved to serious condition and the other to satisfactory condition by Friday evening, the spokesperson said. Two of them were still in critical condition.
Barden said that police think the person who was caught in connection with the stabbings on Friday is also connected to at least four other stabbings that started early Thursday. He said that the attacks were random and that the suspects were described in similar ways. However, he also said that the investigation is still going on.
Police say the stabbings in Chinatown on Thursday began when a 52-year-old woman was found with several stab wounds. Police say a 32-year-old man was found Thursday afternoon having been stabbed several times, and around 8 p.m., a 37-year-old man was found having been stabbed several times in the back.
Then, early Friday morning, police who were called to a report of an assault found a 53-year-old guy who was badly hurt in the neck and bleeding heavily. Police used a nearby doorway as a starting place for their dogs to try to find a suspect after following a blood trail to it.
“As far as I know, everyone is still alive,” Barden said about the victims on Friday afternoon.
Police said the 10th stabbing happened Thursday night during a cellphone theft. Someone forced open a car door and tried to stab a 60-year-old man in the chest. Police say the victim fought back and was cut on the hand. Police said it wasn’t clear if it had anything to do with the random killings.
Source: Man arrested after 9 people are stabbed over 2 days in Seattle
