Rockford stabbing spree leaves 4 dead, including mailman, 5 hurt, one critically and a 22 year old male suspect arrested following mass stabbing incident in Winnebago County which began with a home invasion before spreading through the community. No known motive.
##Update: Suspect id as Christian Ivan Soto with prior criminal record who was charged with 11 counts of murder and attempted murder.
Four people were killed and five others were wounded in and near Rockford, northern Illinois, Wednesday afternoon following a series of mass stabbings in what the city’s mayor called a ‘random and senseless act of violence.’
A suspect, a 22-year-old man, has been taken into custody, with police saying they were not looking for anyone else involved in the violence involving ‘multiple scenes’ in Rockford and an area of the county shortly after 1 p.m., authorities said.
Along with the fatalities, and the five injuries, one person was in critical condition and four others in stable condition, authorities said in a press conference. Jay Larson, 49 year old Rockford, Illinois a USPS mail carrier was identified as one of the fatal victims according according to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department.
Rockford stabbing suspect id as 22 year old repeat offender
49 year old mailman one of the fatal victims
‘Words can’t even express my thoughts right now,’ Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd told reporters. She said the suspect committed ‘heinous crimes.’
Rockford police said they received their first calls about the incident just before 1:15 p.m. When officers responded, they found multiple crime scenes, police said. Officials explained that the stabbings initially began following a home invasion before the suspect then going on to stab multiple other people.
Officials stated that the crimes took place both in the city of Rockford and in the county on multiple streets.
Police said that in the city of Rockford, four people were killed. One person was in critical condition, and four others were injured, though not all of them were stabbed.
The dead had yet to be identified but included a 15-year-old girl; a 63-year-old woman; a 49-year-old postal worker; and a 22-year-old man. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department stated the identity of the deceased mailman/postal worker as local Rockford, Illinois man, Jay Larson.
The causes of death and injury for all victims was not clear. Not all of the victims were stabbed, Redd said, and none were shot.
Rockford stabbing spree: no known motive
The Rockford Register Star reported the mailman being killed after being run over by a vehicle and stabbed. The victim’s gear was left strewn across a yard.
‘It makes no sense,’ local resident Eric Patterson told the outlet. ‘It’s almost like playing a video game, but it’s reality. It makes no sense. It’s like Grand Theft Auto. I’m going to run over the mailman here. I’m going to stab a couple people there. I am going to go in this house over here. It’s not making sense. You can’t rationalize this.’
‘You never expect this here,’ Cassandra Hernandez another local resident said. ‘We have such great neighbors,’ she said, describing the postal worker as ‘a very good man. I am very sad.’
The Rockford Fire Department said one of the people who died was taken to the hospital in critical condition but did not survive. Some of the victims, including a woman who fled a home invasion in Winnebago County and a man who tried to help her, were stabbed, as the assailant pursued them, officials said.
The un-named woman was stabbed in the hands and face and was hospitalized in serious condition. The man sustained non life threatening injuries.
A sheriff’s deputy took the suspect into custody at 1.35pm, some twenty minutes after the first attack taking place. Rockford police said the suspect is being interviewed at this time, and charges had yet to be filed.
Police said they had yet to discover a possible motive.
Rockford is a city of around 150,000 about 60 miles northwest of Chicago
