Seattle police have arrested a man following a two-day spate of seemingly random stabbings that injured 10 people, including five on Friday, authorities said.
Police made an arrest following a series of attacks on Friday and said it is “plausible they are connected” to several other stabbings that unfolded on Thursday, Eric Barden, the city’s deputy police chief, told reporters at the scene.
There were similar suspect descriptions from the incidents and police believe they are related due to the “randomness” of the attacks, he said.
“This is a horrific tragedy,” Barden said.
The stabbings on Friday afternoon took place around 2pm in a roughly four-block area in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District.
Witnesses gave a description of the suspect and officers found him nearby and took him into custody without incident, police said. A weapon was found near the person who was arrested, and a knife was lodged in one of the victims, police said.
Four of the victims were taken to Harborview medical center in Seattle and one victim was treated at the scene and released. A Harborview spokesperson confirmed that four victims were at the hospital and said all were in critical condition.
Five other people were stabbed in separate incidents in the same area starting early on Thursday. A 52-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds was among the victims.
“It is my understanding that everyone is alive,” Barden said of the victims.
Police said the 10th stabbing involved a robbery and it was not clear that it was connected to the random attacks.
Officials are working to determine the identity of the suspect, who police said is between 30 and 40.
The Seattle mayor, Bruce Harrell, said the city would increase law enforcement resources and patrols in response to the attacks.
“The stabbings in Little Saigon and the Chinatown-International District are horrific, appalling, and shouldn’t occur anywhere in our city,” he said.
