A Massachusetts man was arrested Saturday in connection with two stabbings Saturday.
Jared Ravizza, 26, of Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard was arrested after the Porsche he was driving crashed, according to the Vineyard Gazette.
The crash followed an unsuccessful attempt by police to pull over Ravizza after two people were stabbed Saturday night at a McDonald’s in Plymouth, the outlet reported.
The McDonald’s stabbing came after four girls between the ages of 9 and 17 were stabbed in a Braintree movie theater. Police believe the incidents are related.
#BREAKING: Police are blocking off, shutting down the AMC in Braintree after a reported stabbing.
We spoke with an employee who said multiple people were stabbed in a theater tonight. Several people reportedly rushed away by ambulance.
More details to come. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/Tfm8xlk9sp
— Daniel Coates (@danielcoates_25) May 26, 2024
The X account Libs of TikTok identified Ravizza as a “trans activist.”
An Instagram account that appeared to belong to the suspect said he is an artist who uses the pronoun “she.”
A 2021 report in The Martha’s Vineyard Times indicated that Ravizza was active in counseling people with disabilities.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said he was arrested in Sandwich around 7:15 p.m. after the Porsche accident.
Earlier, a McDonald’s employee was stabbed after a customer reached in through the drive-thru window and grabbed him, the Times reported.
The suspect then stabbed a 21-year-old woman working at the McDonald’s.
“Preliminary investigation suggests a likely connection to an earlier incident at a movie theatre in Braintree resulting in non-life threatening injuries to four juveniles,” the Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.
According to the Times, Ravizza will arraigned in Plymouth District Court on Tuesday on charges of assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Those charges refer only to the McDonald’s incidents.
The man who attacked the girls at the movie theater was “laughing the whole time,” Lisa Dembowski, the mother of three girls who were stabbed, told WBZ-TV in Boston.
Massachusetts stabbing spree suspect Jared Ravizza was ‘laughing’ during movie theater attack, mom says https://t.co/hFxs5gwfb0
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 27, 2024
“They had just sat down, they had just got their concessions. I guess he came up behind them, they were in like the second row,” she said. “He came up behind them. My oldest was leaned over to get something, he got her in the back. My other daughter in the chest. My last daughter across her arm.”
Dembowski said the man stabbed their friend and left.
She said the girls were severely traumatized.
“They don’t want to go to the movies ever again,” Dembowski said. “Shaken up. They are physically fine. Kids are resilient. But I think they are terrified that they could just go to a movie on a Saturday night, and this could happen. Someone could just walk into a movie theater and someone could do this.”
Dembowski said children face too many risks.
“More and more this is happening, and it makes parents sick to bring their kids anywhere, or let them go anywhere without them. I absolutely feel that way,” she said.
“I hope he gets what he deserves. I understand mental health. I’m a counselor. I understand it. I think it’s a pretty sick individual to harm children,” she said.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said Ravizza was wanted for unspecified “other incidents,” according to The Boston Globe.
State Police in Connecticut reported a fatal stabbing Saturday and said the suspect was in custody in Massachusetts.