One man is in custody after a mass stabbing attack in a Rockford, Illinois, neighborhood on Wednesday.
Police Chief Carla Redd said that three people died on the scene and a fourth died at a local hospital. She said that not all the victims were stabbed, and none were shot. One person was in critical condition, the chief said, and four more were stable.
The station said the dead have been identified as a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a 22-year-old man, WREX reported.
Two other people were injured in the the attack, Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said later, but their conditions weren’t immediately known.
Caruana said a postal worker was involved but provided no further details. The US Postal Service later told WREX that one of their mail carriers was killed.
The suspect is in custody at a Rockford police station, according to Redd, who said a motive has not been identified. He was later identified as 22-year-old Christian Soto, who lived in the neighborhood where the attacks took place. He was charged with 11 counts, including first degree murder, attempted murder, and home invasion. He is due in court Thursday afternoon.
The attacks took place in several block area of southeastern Rockford, police said, with the first call coming in at about 1:15 p.m. and more calls following.
Caruana said the suspect got into a home and confronted a woman, who tried to get away. She suffered stab wounds to her hands and face and is the patient in critical condition. A Good Samaritan was stabbed trying to help her, the sheriff said.
Neighbors described the scene to WREX reporters.
“All of the sudden, we heard police run up on both sides of the house screaming ‘Stop! Get down!’,” Vanessa Hy said. “Then they ran into the backyard and after a few minutes we saw them bringing the suspect down the driveway in handcuffs, and he was very bloody.”
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara announced that counseling services would be available free of charge at Flinn Middle School on Thursday for adults and children affected by the incident.
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[Featured image: WREX screenshot]
