A man went on a stabbing rampage in a residential area in northern Illinois Wednesday afternoon, killing four people and injuring at least five others in an attack that included multiple crime scenes, including a home invasion, authorities said.
Carla Redd, the police chief in Rockford, a city of about 150,000 people about 130 miles northwest of Chicago, said at a news conference that a suspect in the attack was in custody, but the motive was unknown.
Three victims died at the scene and a fourth died at a hospital, authorities said. One of the injured was taken to hospital in critical condition, while the other four are in stable condition.
Police have not released the suspect's name but said he is a 22-year-old man. They noted that no one else was being sought in the attack. “At this time, we do not believe there are any other suspects at large or at large,” Chief Redd said at a news conference.
Police said the victims included a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, and two men, ages 49 and 22. A U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokeswoman said a mail carrier was among the dead.
Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said one of the injured was a woman who was running from the suspected home invasion. She suffered stab wounds to her and one person who tried to help her, the sheriff added.
The chief said no shots were fired, but added that not all the victims were stabbed.
A hospital spokesperson confirmed that four patients were taken to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said at a news conference that the incident shocked a community already reeling from Sunday's fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old Walmart employee. A man has been charged with murder in this case.
Just last month, police released a report showing violent crime fell 19 percent in the city last year, even though homicides increased from 2022.
On Wednesday, police said they received a call for police and emergency assistance around 1:15 p.m., and the suspect was in custody by 1:35 p.m., authorities said.
Photos from the crime scene showed large sections of the residential street cordoned off with police tape as fire trucks and police cars arrived.
Local resident Vanessa High said she and her husband were watching TV in the living room when they heard police outside their home yelling commands at the suspect, who was in the backyard.
“After about a minute or two, I looked out the side window,” Hai said in a phone interview. “They had that guy. He was covered in blood.”
The suspect appeared to resist officers as he was placed in a police car in front of his home, High added. She said it was difficult to determine whether the blood that covered him was his own.
Hai said she was relieved that her two children were not home on spring break.
“It was like a meltdown,” she said. “I can't put it together logically.”