SIX people have been hospitalized following a random mass stabbing in Washington DC on Thursday.
The Metro DC Police Department responded to the scene less than two miles from the US Capitol at around 3:20 pm and found the male suspect on the ground suffering from stab wounds.
Pamela Smith, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said authorities also found six stab wound victims.
The police chief said the male suspect was believed to have been in an “alternate mental state from an unknown substance” when his knife rampage began.
“While walking down the street, the individual began stabbing himself then stabbed a female acquaintance,” Smith said.
The suspect, who has not been identified, then began randomly stabbing other people who were on the block.
Among those victims were four women and two men.
“Two good Samaritans, and we are grateful for them this afternoon, tried to intervene in the suspect’s assault and were among those who were injured,” Smith added.
A grandmother and her two granddaughters were also injured.
“The grandmother and her two granddaughters were getting in a car, primarily minding their own business, doing what they were doing, and again this individual appeared to be in a mental altered state of mind,” the police chief said.
Smith said police are still working on determining what led the suspect to attack his female acquaintance.
A blood-soaked knife was recovered at the scene near the suspect.
The victims all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and were in stable condition.
“We want to make sure that individuals that are suffering from any type of substance abuse or any altered state of mind, we want to make sure they get the appropriate support and help,” Smith said.
The stabbing took place in Northeast Washington, just blocks from the National Arboretum, Mount Olivet Cemetery, and Gallaudet University.
A post on X by the Metropolitan Police Department alerted followers of a “stabbing investigation” that’s taking place Montello Avenue and Simms Place NE.
Footage from the scene showed dozens of police officers crowding the area as caution tape blocked off multiple blocks and roads.
Multiple bystanders gave interviews to police as an EMS team waited with a gurney near the site of the stabbings.
Several metropolitan police cars lined the streets surrounding the taped-off scene.