HORRIFIC

Suspect Arrested After 4 Killed, 7 Injured in ‘Heinous’ Stabbing Spree

A 15-year-old girl was among the dead, police said.

A man was arrested Wednesday after four people were killed and another seven were injured in a stabbing spree across several locations in Rockford, Illinois, authorities said.

Christian Soto, 22, was booked at the Winnebago County Jail early Thursday on 11 charges ranging from first-degree murder to attempted murder, along with another two charges of home invasion, according to online jail records. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd, who did not name Soto, said: “Right now, we don’t have a clear motive as to what caused this individual to commit such a heinous crime.”

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One of those injured in the rampage was left in critical condition, according to Redd. She also confirmed that not all of the victims were stabbed and said none of them were shot. Police said the deceased included a 15-year-old girl, a 22-year-old man, a 49-year-old man, and a 63-year-old woman. Three died at the scene of their attack while a fourth passed away at a hospital, according to the Associated Press.

The first medical call was made at 1:14 p.m., Redd said, before a series of other calls for police and paramedics came in. The suspect was eventually detained by a Winnebago County sheriff’s deputy responding to a report of a home invasion, Sheriff Gary Caruana said.

Caruana said one of the survivors had run from her assailant. “She got some stab wounds in her hands and her face,” he said. “She is in serious condition. One of the good Samaritans stopped to help her out. He did get some stab wounds. He is being checked out.”

Rockford resident Eric Patterson said he saw two bloodied teenagers and a middle-aged woman with a neck wound being transported on stretchers to ambulances after the rampage. He also saw what looked like evidence of a mail carrier being run over and attacked with his gear left strewn around a yard.

“It makes no sense,” Patterson told the Rockford Register Star. “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.” The U.S. Postal Service confirmed that one of those killed was a mail carrier, according to WREX-TV.

Vanessa Hy, another resident, told the TV station that the arrest itself was “like a movie.” “We heard police run up on both sides of the house screaming: ‘Stop! Get down!’” she 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.”

The attack came just days after a teenage worker at a Walmart in Rockford was stabbed to death inside the store.

“Today, we are shocked by another horrific act of violence against innocent members of our community,” Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said. With suspect in custody, he added, “Our primary concern is ensuring that our community members directly impacted by this violence are supported throughout their healing and recovery.”

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