SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — A man took the lives of four people and injured another two during a rampage with two machete-like knives, police say. He was finally captured after police found him at a 7-Eleven.
In addition to the people killed, the attacker left two wounded in multiple crime scenes in Garden Grove and Santa Ana, police said.
The victims killed included two people at the suspect’s apartment complex, a 7-Eleven security guard and one more person at a Subway restaurant.
via cnn.com
The mayhem started off with a call to police about a home burglary. While police were at the scene, another call came in about a robbery at a bakery.
The suspect had apparently broken into the apartment, then drove to the bakery, and then drove back to the apartment complex, where he killed two people.
Two house later, police get a call about an alarm going off at an insurance business. There, a woman was attacked by a man with a knife, who then stole money and took off.
Shortly after that incident, police received yet another call. This time, about a man who was stabbed in the back while pumping gas. Police say that his nose was almost cut off during the attack, as well.
It wasn’t long before all crime scenes were connected, and police were able to locate the suspect.
They saw the car parked at a 7-Eleven and police surrounded the convenience store. The suspect came out carrying a knife and a handgun, and police confronted him and arrested him, authorities said.
Investigators discovered he’d stabbed the security guard to death and cut out his gun from his belt, [Lt. Carl] Whitney said.
While clearing the scene, they were told the suspect had also killed one person during a robbery at a Subway restaurant before he went to the 7-Eleven — both in Santa Ana, police said. Law enforcement agencies from both agencies worked on the crime scenes.
There are no known connections between the suspect and the victims, and the motive appears to be robbery, Whitney said.
This is what crazy looks like, folks. Crazy and desperate, and zero regard for human life. The saddest part of that none of these people were able to properly defend themselves, including the armed security guard.
Maybe that guard was not paying attention, or simply didn’t realize how real the threat was. In the end, whatever the case, his having a firearm made no difference.
Stay armed, stay alert, and stay alive.
