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A man has been charged in connection with a stabbing attack that left four people dead – including one teenager – and seven others injured Wednesday afternoon in Rockford, Illinois. Rockford is a city of around 150,000 about 60 miles northwest of Chicago.
On Thursday morning, the Rockford Police Department confirmed to ABC News that the suspect, 22-year-old Christian Soto, was arrested as a suspect in the knife attack. Soto faces four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon. Authorities said that Soto is being held in the Winnebago County Jail.
Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said that the brutal attack first began during a home invasion near Florence Street and Eggleston Road; a young woman trying to get away was stabbed in the face and hands and seriously wounded, while a Good Samaritan who tried to help the woman also was stabbed. The attacker then went on a rampage in the areas of Holmes Street, Winnetka Drive, and Cleveland Avenue in Rockford, police said. Calls for police and paramedics were soon coming in at multiple scenes in Rockford and surrounding parts of Winnebago County.
Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said a total of four people were killed, with one critically injured, and four others taken to hospitals, where they remain in stable condition. Redd said not all of the victims were stabbed, but there were no gunshot victims. The victims who were killed include a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a 22-year-old man.
Police confirmed Thursday, that there were no other offenders involved in the attack, with Mayor Tom McNamara releasing the following statement: “Today, we are shocked by another horrific act of violence against innocent members of our community. We can report that the suspect is in custody and the threat has been neutralized. Now that he is in custody, our primary concern is ensuring that our community members directly impacted by this violence are supported throughout their healing and recovery. We are working with community partners to provide support and services quickly and conveniently to those residents. We will announce those details soon. We have multiple jurisdictions working on multiple crime scenes to develop an understanding of what transpired in an effort to prevent this from happening again. We will continue to provide updates.”
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