Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
Police say they think a serial killer who is believed to have targeted black men in Michigan is also responsible for three stabbings in Northern Virginia.The suspect is believed to have stabbed five people to death and wounded 10 others in Michigan -- all but two are black. In Virginia, two black men and a dark-complexioned Latino teen are also believed to be the serial killer's latest victims.
Leesburg Chief of Police Joseph R. Price said he believes that the Caucasian man wanted in Michigan is the same one who behind one hammer and two knife attacks in his area.
The suspect, who is believed to be driving a dark-green Chevy S-10 Blazer with tan trim, is also being investigated in the critical stabbing of a church janitor in Toledo, Ohio.
The FBI is now involved in the case. The victims seem to be randomly chosen simply for the color of their skin. None of the men were robbed, so police have ruled out financial gain as a motive. That leaves race and sex as the only connecting factors.
The AP writes:
The attacks in the Flint began in May 24 and targeted males 17 to 60. But it was only last week that a pattern became apparent to police there. The last attack in Michigan was Aug. 2, Price said. The first attack in Virginia was a day later. The first attack in Virginia occurred when a 15-year-old boy was stabbed in the back while jogging down a street in Leesburg. Two days later, a 67-year-old man was stabbed -- also in the back -- while sitting on the steps of his apartment complex. The man lost a kidney but is expected to make a full recovery. And Friday, a 19-year-old victim was attacked with a hammer while walking through a shopping center parking lot.
It's scary when any group is being targeted by a disturbed individual. Let's hope police are able to quickly catch and prosecute the person responsible.