9 injured in mass stabbing in Idaho

Six children wounded after refugee families targeted at birthday party

BOISE, IDAHO— A man who had been asked to leave an Idaho apartment complex because of bad behaviour returned the next day and stabbed nine people, including six children, at a toddler’s birthday party, police said.

Timmy Kinner showed up late Saturday at the complex, which houses many resettled refugee families in Boise. Kinner, who is not a refugee, targeted the party that was held a few doors down from the apartment where he had stayed for a short time, police said.

“This incident is not a representation of our community but a single evil individual who attacked people without provocation that we are aware of at this time,” police Chief William Bones said Sunday.

The victims included the 3-year-old birthday girl and five other children ages 4 to 12. Three adults who came to their defence were also hurt. Some were gravely wounded, Bones said.

A resident of the complex had recently met Kinner, who was new to the area and needed a place to stay, Bones said.

“I believe her perception was, ‘Here’s a helping hand I can give in return for a helping hand I have been given,’ ” Bones said.

The resident asked Kinner to leave Friday when his behaviour became a problem, and he did so peacefully, Bones said. The police chief did not elaborate on his behaviour. The woman was not among the victims.

Esrom Habte, 12, and Fathi Mahamoud, 11, were playing in the grass behind their apartment when the attack began. They saw the suspect chasing people.

“We saw him saying, like, bad words and stabbing a kid and a grown-up and really hard and a lot of times,” Esrom said.

The two ran into an apartment and hid in a closet with other children until police told them it was safe to come out, he said.

Some of the stabbing victims were their friends, Fathi said.

Kinner, 30, was arrested near the scene and charged with aggravated battery and of injury to a child. Investigators recovered the knife he was believed to have used in a nearby canal, Bones said.

The attack resulted in the most victims in a single incident in Boise Police Department history, the police chief said.

The apartment complex is just off sone of Boise’s busier streets, separated from the traffic by one of the many irrigation canals that run through the city. On Sunday, colourful bouquets had been placed just outside crime-scene tape. Megan Schwab, who works with the International Rescue Committee in Boise, said the organization was working to provide temporary housing, counselling and other support to those affected by the attack.