California police looking into possible serial killer operating near UC Davis campus
DAVIS, CALIFORNIA: Police in the quiet university town of Davis, California are searching for a possible 'serial killer' behind a series of stabbings that have claimed two lives in less than a week. Police believe the possible stabbings are connected as the description of the suspects in the second and third stabbing has been reported to be similar.
Davis Polic Chief Darren Pytel in a press conference on Wednesday said, "We've been in contact with the FBI and we're trying to get profilers on board to make that determination," when he was asked about a possibility of 'serial killer' behind the stabbings, Fox News reported.
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'It could be someone so rageful'
The comments came after three persons were stabbed, two gaming them fatally between April 27 and 1 May. Law enforcement also detained a person of interest in the case but has not revealed if he is the suspect. “It could be someone so rageful, so intent on doing harm that he’s just seeking out the most vulnerable,” Michael Vitiello, a criminal law scholar at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law told The Sacramento Bee.
'Compassion guy'
David Breaux, 50 was the first to be killed on April 27 morning. As Pytel described, the homeless Breaux was slouched over" on a bench where he "normally sits or sleeps at night." Breaux was well known in the community as the “Compassion Guy.” He installed a Compassion Bench in 2013 at Central Park where he was killed.
UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, 20 was the second victim fatally stabbed two days later on April, 29 at Davis’ Sycamore Park a mile away from the central park as he walked home. Najm who studied computer science was coming after attending an undergraduate awards ceremony sometime after 9 p.m. He was set to graduate in six weeks with honors. "We moved from Lebanon in 2018 when the situation in Lebanon was a little bit starting to go in not the right direction," his father Abou Najm told KCRA. "We came here hoping for safety."
The latest victim was a 64-year-old homeless woman who hadn't been identified. She was stabbed on May, 1. The 911 caller told authorities she had to been stabbed more than once through a tent. After surgery, the victim is stated to be alert and talking but remains in a critical condition.
'This is different'
The city has never encountered a wave of stabbings similar to this one in at least the past 40 years. “This is different,” Pytel told reporters Tuesday. “These attacks were particularly violent and brazen.” Oytrel believed it "seems reasonable" that all these attacks were carried out by the same person.
Investigating agencies are looking for a male between the heights of 5 feet and 6 inches and 5 feet and 9 inches who has curly hair, a pale complexion, and a slender build. He was thought to be carrying a brown bag and wearing black or blue Adidas pants with stripes, the outlet reported. A similar description has been announced in the suspect involved in Najm's killing. Even though the person of interest arrested from Pine Lane as per the report matched the description he is not yet called a suspect as the police have detained several persons of interest in the past few days.
'People need to make smart choices'
Meanwhile, the security on the University of California Davis campus has been doubled. The university has hired private security and brought in officers from UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, Chief Joseph Farrow said. Classes after 6 pm will be conducted remotely for the time being as per the report. Police have also urged everyone to be careful and said "People need to make smart choices" as Chancellor Gary S May requested people not to be by themselves at night and encouraged extracurricular activities to be held virtually, if possible.
“The chances that these cases are not linked is very small,” Mark Safarik, a former Davis police detective and investigator with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit told Sacramento Bee. “One of the things here is we don’t really have a motive, Davis is a relatively small community, and it’s very likely these cases are linked," he added.