Oakland Police revealed a mass stabbing spree that killed one and left four injured in the city on Monday night was random.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, officers refused to name the suspect or victims but said those in hospital were three men and two women aged between 30 and 50.
One of the men died from his injuries during the 30-minute rampage across Cesar Chavez Park. One of the surviving victims was in critical condition Tuesday, while the other three were listed as stable.
Investigators believe the person arrested Monday night was responsible for all five attacks, but they repeatedly declined to name him.
“So far we believe that they were random,” police said Tuesday, cautioning that it was still too early in the investigation to determine whether the victims had any connection to one another.
The suspect is homeless and at least two of the victims were too.
Authorities said they have not encountered a series of attacks of “this magnitude” in recent years, as detectives continue piecing together what happened during the deadly rampage.
“I’d actually like to thank the community for coming forward and working with the officers to help take the suspect into custody, who at this time we believe is responsible for all these incidents,” Beere said.
The spokesman said it could have been “a lot worse.”
The violence began shortly before 7:30 p.m. Monday when officers were dispatched to Cesar Chavez Park following reports of a shooting.
Instead, they found a person suffering from stab wounds. Officers attempted lifesaving measures, but the victim died at the scene.
Police then located another wounded person near 38th Avenue and San Leandro Street.
The string of attacks quickly spread across East Oakland, with BART officers alerting city police to another stabbing near the Fruitvale BART station.
Two additional victims were later discovered near 39th Avenue and International Boulevard. The five victims were found across four separate locations during the roughly half-hour spree.
As officers searched for the attacker, members of the community helped direct police toward the suspect near the 1500 block of 39th Avenue shortly before 8 p.m.
Officers pursued the suspect on foot before ordering the person to drop the knife. Police then took the suspect into custody without further violence and recovered a weapon believed to be connected to the attacks.
The investigation remains ongoing as detectives work to establish exactly what prompted the seemingly random attacks and why the suspect targeted the five victims.
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