Good evening. Thanks for
joining us. I'm Chris Thomas.
I'm Laura Painter.
3 stabbings in five days,
two people are dead and a third
victim fights for her life.
It's a crime spree never seen
before in the city of Davis
and tonight we should tell you the FBI
is now joining local law enforct
and they need your help catching
the person or people responsibl.
Keep in mind 2 fatal stabbings happened
last week at two different parkd
overnight a woman was stabbed through
her tent in the downtown Davis .
We have a team of reporters
looking into different angles
from community reaction to the
impacts on the UC Davis campus.
We start with ABC10's Becca Hamburger with.
What we know right now about
the investigation, Becca,
you know Chris and Laura.
As we're talking here,
I hear a helicopter whirring overhead.
And this is a city on edge right now.
This is a crime that involves
multiple scenes, Three in fact,
One of which is Sycamore Park,
right here behind me and Central W Davis.
You know, there are a lot
of people who are saying,
look, we've got 3 stabbings
over the course of five days.
There are a lot of similarities.
Did the same person do all three stabbings?
Is this a serial killing?
You know,
the Davis police chief says he's
not ready to say that quite yet.
Last Thursday morning, police fd
a 50 year old unhoused man bruty
stabbed to death in Davis's Central Park.
Police believe he was killed overnight on a
bench where he would normally sit and sleep.
There are no witnesses so far in
this killing. On Saturday night,
police found another victim of
a deadly and brutal stabbing,
this time in Sycamore Park and the victim,
a 20 year old UC Davis student.
On Monday night, police respondo
a report of an unhoused woman ir
60s who was stabbed in her tent.
Police say she is fighting for r
life in critical but stable condition
at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
Davis Police Chief Darren Baitel says there
are similarities between the stabbings,
but he's not ready to call this
the work of a serial killer.
The suspect descriptions for the
2nd homicide and the incident lt
night are substantially similar,
but we cannot yet rule out.
That we're not dealing with
three separate crimes,
he says.
Investigators have gone door to
door around the three crime sce,
asking neighbors and businessesr
any security video they might he
to identify the suspect. Police don't
have city surveillance video. Witnesses
in the second and third stabbins
gave a description. We are
looking for a light complected
male with curly hair, about 5-6
to 5 foot 9 inches
tall with a thin or slender bui.
He was last seeing a dark
colored sweatshirt with
black Adidas style pants
with a white
stripe on the side,
black shoes and wearing a brown backpack.
Community members have submitted
hundreds of tips in the last few days.
Surrounding police departments
and sheriff's offices are
helping with the investigation,
as well as the FBI and the
Department of Justice is assistg
and processing physical evidenc,
including the search for DNA evidence.
You know we've been asking or listening
to your questions throughout the day,
one of you writes.
The police failed to dispatch
the helicopter immediately last
night after the third stabbing,
allowing the bad guy to get awa.
Why weren't the police more reay
after the first two incidents?
We know the police chief was asd
about that last or sorry at the
news conference this morning.
He tells us that because last night there
was low cloud cover and some light rain,
they were not able to get the helicopter.
They did ask for it,
but they weren't able to get th.
Assisting law enforcement agencies were
able to add their drones in for the search.
Those drones even have heat
surveillance trying to find,
like, he said,
the suspect hiding in the bushe.
But even with the drones and
law enforcement officers on
the ground casing the area,
they could not find the suspect and the
search remains very active at this moment.
Oh, Becca, we know two of
the victims were unhoused.
What is the city doing to protet
the homeless population right n?
You know, Laura, the mayor,
at this morning's news conference said he's
in talks with the city manager's office.
I just texted him a few minutes ago asking,
you know, is there an update ont
you're doing for the unhoused community?
He said they hope to have sometg
to announce later this evening,
but rest assured,
they are talking about how to
protect the unhoused community,
who just like other members of
the community but perhaps a lite
bit more physically vulnerable.
Are worried about this person or
people who are still at large tonight.
All right, Becca,
thank you for that perspective
and we continue our team coverae
tonight with ABC 10s Roxanne Al.
She is live at Central Park.
That is where one of the deadly
stabbings happen in Roxanne.
This is a scary time for a
normally quiet community.
It is Chris and Laura.
Earlier today it was raining and so you
would expect to see a place like this.
Pretty empty, right?
Well woman we talked to earlier today
said this usually is a flooded h
students on bikes heading to cl,
with families out here with their children
and even right now without any .
As you could tell,
it looks like a ghost town,
just like she described it
earlier to us today.
Fear has taken over for residenn
Davis after three people were stabbed,
two of them to death in the last six days.
Definitely
on edge. I know I was opening tm
this morning alone and I was li,
I do not want to be doing
this alone right now.
So I'm hoping like we can get
people to close together and al.
The feel La Rose works at
a clothing store in Davis.
She says there's been a dip in
customers as people are choosino
stay home during this intense t.
I feel like a lot of people
are just like scared.
And then, like, my coworkers have been
texting each other like not abo,
not wanting to come in and stuf.
But yeah, there's definitely be,
like, less people I've seen everywhere.
Our entire community
will never quite be the same.
Our sense of normalcy and
security has been fractured.
Davis, Mayor Will Arnold and poe
are urging residents to stay vigilant,
be aware of your surroundings,
avoid staying out past dark,
avoid parks at night,
and if you have to be out, walkh
a friend until this killer is caught.
Many people we spoke to today
aren't taking any chances,
and it's just really scary,
especially because you have
to take the bus a lot.
And sometimes you're out late.
Well, we just had brunch right across
the street and we were thinkingf
going for a walk and I looked to see if
anybody has been captured and I'm like,
Nope, okay, I'm going home.
So I'm just trying to be
cautious and just staying home.
Davis police are asking you if
you see anything odd out of pla,
they want you to report it right away.
They're going through
all of those as we speak.
They're also asking you to lookt
for your family, your friends,
and of course your community members.
Chris, Laura, back to you
and Roxanne. I know the Davis Le
League is also canceled all late night
events because of those stabbin.
We are certainly hoping police n
make an arrest soon. We thank y.
Meanwhile, listen to this.
UC Davis says they are adding te
times the police presence tonig.
Our Devin Truby is now at UC Da,
where officials just wrapped
up a news conference.
Devin, tell us what you learned.
Laura, Just a short time ago,
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May
announce that any class or lab
after 6:00 PM will be virtual de
to concerns about student safet.
We spoke with students today anl
of them told us that campus it's
empty in comparison to a normal.
Students not wanting to walk or
bike alone here to campus where
people are generally scared,
they're concerned.
Trying to understand what is
going on in the city of Davis.
Students and staff at UC
Davis are on edge as police
continue to search for a killer
in their community.
We are providing them really
all day transportation.
To and from residents anywhere on campus,
it's called our Safe Rides prog.
So those vans are running
about 16 hours a day,
and we're literally taking
hundreds upon hundreds,
if not thousands.
The Associated Students of UC Ds
sent a letter to the administran
urging them to provide online
courses until a suspect is caug.
Eric Murray says one of his clas
has already been moved online,
and he says his new personal rus
not to be out after 10:00 PM Its
definitely very concerning. Rig.
Especially for those of us that
have class late at night or some
kind of practice or club meeting
that they want to go to at nigh,
It's definitely, you know,
going out at night,
it's no longer really an option.
Looking over my shoulder a little bit more,
which I'm not sure if that's
something that was necessarily.
My male counterparts were doing Students
are on alert and concerned famis
are calling to check on their students.
My mom called me this morning
when I was on my way to class.
My sisters have been checking
in and a couple of my cousins.
But for international students,
news of the murders hasn't made it home yet.
UC Davis has around 6000
international students.
S Tong,
who's from
China, says she hasn't told her family yet
because she doesn't want them to worry.
I'm planning to go back to Chino
stay with my family this summero
I'm. I think I'm looking forward to it.
And since there's a hope,
I'm good at this moment.
They have walls up here that prt
that from coming on campus. No.
And we do know we have students here that
are that may be traumatized by .
They're very concerned and we
really want to deal with that.
We are building a really good
response team using our fire
department with paramedics,
social workers that can respond.
We're trying to do everything we
possibly can knowing that we hae
young adults coming on their cas
experiencing tragedies like thir
the very first time in their li.
Chris you mentioned it triple the security.
What that looks like is having twelve
officers patrol on a typical ni.
That would be 4. All six speciay
officers will also work tonight.
Specialty because they are
allowed to carry a weapon.
UC Berkeley and San Francisco providing
campus police to patrol here so
Davis police can assist the cit.
Private security also hired to
be out in the community where
students frequently walk home.
Chris Laura.
Yeah, Devin, let's circle
back to Mental Health.
The UC Davis police chief
is also the president of the
California chapter of the Natiol
Alliance of Mental Illness.
This was a big point in the letr
from the Associated Students.
What can you tell us about that,
Laura? It was the Associated Students
referencing that this is the thd
event this quarter where a studs
life has been lost if you remembered.
Earlier in April, I covered andd
you guys about that DUI crash we
three UC Davis students lost their life.
And when the Associated Students
conducted their midpoint survey,
55% of students said that mental
health was an extenuating circumstance
to their academic success here.
So they are trying to address those concerns
with counseling services made available,
but definitely something that is
aware and an issue here on camps
at the community and the school
is looking to solve, right?
Devin Live at UC Davis tonight. Thank you.
Well, the campus is encouraging everyone
to download the Warn Me app forl
time alerts of what's happening.
Being just six weeks away from the end
of school, campus leaders are discussing
potential accommodations for fi.
They also announced A vigil Friy
at 4:30 for the student who die.
He was posthumously awarded a degree.
Also, a memorial scholarship for
undergraduate research has been
set up in his honor.
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