OAN’s James Meyers
8:35 AM -Thursday, March 28, 2024
Four people have been killed and seven others have been wounded after a man went on a stabbing rampage in Rockford, Illinois, on Wednesday.
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Mayor Tom McNamara called the killings a “random and senseless act of violence.”
A 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a 22-year-old man were killed with the others taken to the hospital with “serious injuries,” the Rockford Police Department said in a news release Wednesday evening.
A mail carrier was also among those killed, according to authorities and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Meanwhile, a suspect, a 22-year-old man, was taken into custody, and police have said they are not looking for anyone else involved in the violence at “multiple scenes.”
“Words can’t even express my thoughts right now,” Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd told reporters. She said the suspect committed “heinous crimes.”
Additionally, five people were injured in the city of Rockford and two people were injured in the area of Winnebago County, Rockford police spokesperson Michelle Marcomb told CNN.
“We don’t have a clear motive in regard to what caused this individual to commit such heinous crimes,” Redd said.
According to Redd, authorities received a call for medical aid at 1:14 p.m., followed by additional calls for assistance.
In a neighborhood in the Rockford area, there was a home invasion and a woman tried to flee but was stabbed in the hands and face, Sheriff Gary Caruana said.
“She got some stab wounds in her hands and in her face,” he said. “She is currently at a hospital, and she is intubated. She is in serious condition.”
Caruana also stated that a good Samaritan who stopped to help the woman also received stab wounds. “He’s fine. He is being checked out,” the sheriff said.
Furthermore, police said that not all of the victims were stabbed, nor did they suffer any gunshot wounds, but did not disclose how the other victims died or were injured.
Mayor McNamara said he was “totally shaken by this act of violence and the impact that it’s having now on multiple families’ lives.”
McNamara said there will be counselors at Flinn Middle School on Thursday and Friday to help people who have been affected by the tragedy.
“It’s hard to grasp how this could happen and how emotional and raw the community is tonight,” the mayor said in a Facebook post. “As a dad, a son, a husband, the Mayor and a Rockford supporter, my heart is breaking for those who have lost their lives, their families and our community.”
Police have said the investigation is still ongoing.
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