Knifeman stabs 4 at random
Police hunting attacker after woman and 3 men wounded in 14hr rampage
A HUGE manhunt was still going on last night for a knifeman who stabbed four random victims in the back in a ‘cowardly and senseless’ 14-hour rampage.
Police said that all the victims – a woman and three men – were ‘vulnerable’ and walking alone when they were attacked from behind.
The woman and one of the men were in a critical condition in hospital last night. A third victim was described as having ‘potentially life-changing’ injuries.
Witnesses said they saw the attacker with an eight-inch kitchen knife, which he concealed under his arm as he ‘calmly’ made off from one of the stabbings.
One onlooker described seeing ‘ more blood than I had ever seen in my life’.
The suspect is described as a black man, 6ft 3in tall, of skinny build and wearing dark clothing, possibly a hooded top.
The victims were all from different backgrounds and ‘ selected at random’ in the attacks in Edmonton, north London, which are not thought to be linked to terrorism.
Police said the motive appeared to have been ‘solely to inflict harm’ and that none of the victims were robbed or spoken to before they were attacked. They believe ‘ mental health issues may be a factor’.
The spree of violence began at 7pm on Saturday night when the 45-year-old woman was knifed. She had been walking alone on Aberdeen Road, a residential street adjacent to the busy North Circular ring road.
Witness Dervish Husseyin, 60, described seeing her ‘lying face down with blood on her back’ but the woman did not seem to realise she had been stabbed, adding: ‘She said they had beaten her up.’
The attacker struck for the second time at 12.15am on Park Avenue, a ten-minute walk away.
A 52-year-old man was stabbed and taken to hospital. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening.
The third attack happened just before 4am. A 23-year-old man was stabbed on Silver Street and was found by police three miles away close to Seven Sisters tube station. He is critically ill but stable.
A witness, who saw the stabbed man when he was on the way home from a party, said he had ‘blood all over his shirt and hands’ and was ‘stumbling all over the place.’
He added: ‘ We asked him if he was alright but he looked completely out of it and couldn’t even talk properly. You could tell he was in agony.’
The fourth attack happened in broad daylight at 9.45am yesterday, in Brettenham Road, less than
‘His face was calm like nothing had happened’
a mile away from Silver Street. Witnesses described the attacker plunging an 8in kitchen knife into a 29-year- old man’s back before sprinting from the scene.
He pushed past a 13-year-old boy as he made his escape. The boy, speaking alongside his parents, said: ‘I was on my way to guitar lessons when I heard a young Asian man screaming “Oh my God” in the street outside my home.
‘The victim was holding his back and bleeding really badly. He dropped to his knees as he was shouting then fell to the ground.
‘ The guy with the knife just looked so calm – he put it under his shoulder then pushed me out the way and ran off.
‘I remember how calm his face was. Like nothing had happened.
‘I was stunned, it could have been me. People came out of their homes and compressed his wound with tissues, I phoned police then the paramedic came. There was more blood than I had ever seen in my life.’
Just before 11am yesterday, police arrested a man in the area on suspicion of GBH and last night were still working to establish if he could be behind the knife attacks.
Police last night said a second suspect, in his 40s, had been arrested at a house in Edmonton on suspicion of GBH.
Neighbours said the man who lives at the address suffers from mental health problems and they had been worried about his wellbeing over the past week.
But the manhunt continued, with a police helicopter scanning the area for much of yesterday, and the public warned to stay vigilant. The Met Police said they had deployed extra resources.
Det Chief Insp Stuart Smillie said last night: ‘We are doing everything we can to apprehend the suspect behind these cowardly and senseless attacks.
‘We are treating the four stabbing incidents as potentially linked. The four victims are from different backgrounds and appear to have been selected at random due to them being alone and vulnerable.
‘The motive appears to be solely to inflict harm. Early accounts suggest none of the victims were robbed or engaged in conversation before they were attacked.’
The attacks are the latest in a wave of violence sweeping across the country.
West Midlands Police said a 24year-old man was killed in Solihull on Friday night. He was named locally as Leneto Kellengbeck. Also on Friday, a 40-year-old man was stabbed to death in his VW Golf in Clapham, south London, in a ‘vicious and targeted’ attack. Police are looking for three suspects who sprinted from the scene.
On Thursday night a 25-year-old, named as Zahir Visiter, was stabbed in St John’s Wood, north London. Police hunted in a nearby mosque after reports that two males had hidden out there.
No arrests have been made in any of the three killings.
On Saturday night in Bury, near Manchester, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed outside a restaurant. He is in a stable condition. Police arrested a 17-year-old boy.
Yesterday, at just before 3am, police were called after a 22-yearold was shot in Walthamstow, north London. He was taken to hospital but his condition is not life-threatening.
‘Vicious and targeted attack’