At least 4 people were confirmed killed and 7 others sustained injuries as a man went on a stabbing rampage in a residential neighbourhood near Rockford, Northern Illinois, US.
According to authorities, three of the victims were killed at the scene, and the fourth died at a hospital. The seven wounded were taken to area hospitals, where their conditions ranged from critical to stable.
Carla Redd, the police chief in Rockford, confirming the development at a news conference stated that a suspect had been taken into custody in the attack, but the motive was unclear.
The police did not name the suspect but said he was a 22-year-old man. They noted that no one else was being sought in the attack.
“We don’t believe there’s any other suspects that are on the run or at large at this particular time,” Chief Redd said at a news conference.
The victims who were killed include a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, and two men, 49 and 22, the police said. A mail carrier was among those killed, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara and other officials said their thoughts were with the victims and their families. The mayor said he was “just totally shaken by this act of violence and the impact that it’s having now on multiple families’ lives”.
“My prayers are with them as they’re just beginning to deal with what will be really difficult days and weeks ahead,” McNamara said.
Rockford is a city of around 150,000 about 60 miles northwest of Chicago.