An unnamed male suspect is in custody after going on a stabbing spree that killed four people and injured five others Wednesday in Rockford, Ill. Photo courtesy of rockfordil.gov
March 27 (UPI) — An unnamed male suspect is in custody after going on a stabbing spree that killed four people and wounded five others in a Rockford, Ill., neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
“An adult male attacked and stabbed multiple individuals in the area of Cleveland/Holmes/Eggleston. The alleged suspect is in custody,” the Rockford Police Department posted on X.
The attacks occurred in multiple locations starting at about 1:10 p.m. CDT. Police arrested the 22-year-old male suspect 25 minutes later, local media reported.
The deceased victims are three females, ages 15, 22 and 63, and a 49-year-old male, according to Rockford police who said one of the deceased victims is a mail carrier.
Among the five wounded victims, one is in critical condition. The other four are in stable condition, but remain hospitalized. Some of the victims were not stabbed. No one was shot.
Police don’t have a motive for the attacks, CBS News reported.
Rockford police said the attacks started as a home invasion on Florence Street, where a female victim and a good Samaritan were stabbed but survived. The female was stabbed in the face and hands and is hospitalized in critical condition.
Paramedics were called to the 2300 block on Holmes Street at 1:15 p.m. as the male continued attacking others in the neighborhood. Police received multiple calls for help from multiple locations soon after, ABC News reported.
Several people also were attacked on the 2100 block of Eggleston Road and the 4800 block of Cleveland Avenue.
The attacks carried over into surrounding Winnebago County, making them a “multi-jurisdictional” crime, Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana told local media.
Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd called the stabbings a “heinous crime.”
“Words can’t even express my thoughts right now,” Redd told local media. “This is a pretty painstaking event.”
The identities of the victims have not been released pending notification of their families.
Rockford had a population of 147,711 in 2021 and is located about 90 miles northwest of Chicago in north-central Illinois.