A 37-year-old man who police say stabbed five people in Seattle in broad daylight on Friday and possibly four others the day before made his first court appearance Saturday where a judge ordered him held on $2m bail.
“People who live in and travel to the Chinatown-International District deserve to feel safe and be safe,” said King county prosecuting attorney Leesa Manion after the judge found probable cause to hold him on five counts of first-degree assault.
In setting the high bail amount, the judge noted that the man had a warrant out for his arrest. He also has nine felony convictions in Washington state that include four car thefts, possession of stolen property, robbery and attempted burglary, according to the probable cause report.
The case is still under investigation and has not been referred to the King county prosecuting attorney’s office for a charging decision, spokesperson Casey McNerthney said Saturday. They expect to receive the case by Thursday, he said.
Messages sent to the King county department of public defense seeking comment were not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.
Four of the five victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center on Friday. One man who was in critical condition was upgraded to serious, while two others remain in serious condition in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, spokesperson for the hospital, said on Saturday. Another male patient was in satisfactory condition, she said.
Police said they recovered two knives soiled with what appeared to be blood in the parking lot where the man was arrested. A third knife was lodged in a victim’s back when he was taken to the hospital, court records said.
Seattle police said they believe the man was also involved in at least four other stabbings in the same area on Thursday. He fit the descriptions of the suspect and the attacks were also random, like Friday’s assaults. Police continue to investigate the case and more charges may be added, they said.
The Thursday stabbings in Chinatown started when a 52-year-old woman was found with multiple stab wounds, police said. On Thursday afternoon, a 32-year-old man was found after being stabbed multiple times and at about 8pm, a 37-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the back, police said.
On Friday at about 2pm, police received 911 reports that four people had been stabbed in Chinatown. Another victim was found about a block away, the probable cause statement said.
One witness told police that he saw the suspect walk up behind a man and stab him in the back. That man was hospitalized with four stab wounds. The witness said he followed the suspect as he calmly walked up the street and then stabbed three people as they stood on a corner.
Video evidence showed that the suspect also stabbed another man before striking the group of three, police said. The video shows the suspect walking behind a person and stabbing him in the back. He fell to the ground with the knife still lodged in his back, police said.
Police arrived and used witness descriptions to take the man into custody. He was wearing a black sweatshirt with writing across the chest that read “Fear of God State”. police said. He had what appeared to be blood on his hands and shoes, police said.
“This incident was apparently one individual over a 38-hour period of time committing random assaults,” Deputy Chief Eric Barden said at the scene on Friday.
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