SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Police have arrested a suspect they are investigating in connection with attacks that killed three people and injured three others in two San Francisco Bay Area cities.
The attacks began shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday in a San Jose shopping center parking lot where a victim was stabbed in a carjacking, causing life-threatening injuries, Officer Steve Aponte, a police spokesperson, told reporters.
A second attempted carjacking and stabbing occurred at another San Jose shopping center, leaving that victim with life-threatening injuries, Aponte said.
The vehicle stolen from the first San Jose shopping center struck a pedestrian in the parking lot of the second one, causing non-life-threatening injuries, and then later appeared to intentionally ram two pedestrians who died, Aponte said.
Around 4:30 p.m., police in neighboring Milpitas responded to a stabbing in a shopping center parking lot. That victim died at a hospital, Milpitas police Lt. Tyler Jamison said in a statement.
A man found in a nearby neighborhood was arrested, Jamison said. The man’s name was not released.
“During our investigation, we learned that the San Jose Police Department was actively investigating two homicides in their city. Investigators believe the crimes committed in San Jose and Milpitas may be related to the same suspect,” Jamison said.
Aponte said San Jose police were working to determine if the Milpitas suspect matched the assailant in their city.
“As of right now we feel comfortable that there is no ongoing threat to the public,” Aponte said.
