Maryland stabbing spree leaves 4 injured, 1 critically, and a suspect dead

Four people were injured, one critically, in a series of seemingly random stabbings in Maryland on Saturday, police said.

The attacks were centered at a strip mall in the unincorporated community of Silver Spring, about 6 miles north of the District of Columbia, shortly after 10:30 a.m., police said in a statement.

Montgomery County Police Assistant Chief Darren Francke characterized the violence as “an unprovoked attack,” according NBC Washington.

The first stabbing, in which a woman was injured, took place at Unique Thrift Store, the Montgomery County Police Department said.

A second knife attack, on two women and a man, was reported on a nearby street just a minute later, it said.

NBC Washington reported that the women may have been shopping at a nearby yard sale, and the man’s attack, though nearby, may have been separate.

Witnesses gave officers the direction of travel for a suspect, who was confronted at a nearby park, the Montgomery County department said.

“The suspect did not comply with commands from officers to drop the knife and lunged towards the officer, resulting in the officer shooting the suspect,” the department said.

First aid was rendered, but the man was declared dead at the scene, it said.

Police recovered a weapon described by the Montgomery County department as a large butcher’s knife. The shooting will be investigated by a team under the state attorney general.

Of the three women attacked, two were hospitalized and one was said to be in critical condition, police said. Francke said all were expected to survive.

The male victim suffered “superficial” wounds and was not hospitalized, the Montgomery County department said.

Its Major Crimes Division was probing any possible motive for the violence.