After a third person was stabbed in a week in the college town of Davis, Calif., the city issued a shelter-in-place order for a part of Tuesday morning. The two previous stabbings resulted in death, marking the first homicides in Davis in three years. The latest stabbing in the home of the University of California, Davis, came just before midnight on Monday at a homeless encampment, where a woman was stabbed multiple times through a tent. The UC Davis Medical Center listed her in critical condition as of Tuesday.
A message issued by the city of Davis and the university read: “The suspect matches the description of previous stabbing incidents. He is described as a male wearing all dark clothing, possibly a blue shirt and jeans, carrying a black backpack and wearing black Adidas shoes with stripes.” Authorities said they looked for a suspect until close to dawn on Tuesday, at which point they lifted their shelter-in-place order. Davis Police were joined in the search by the Sacramento Police Department, Elk Grove Police Department, Yolo County Sheriff, West Sacramento Police Department, and Woodland Police Department. UC Davis said it brought in extra private security to the campus and added staffers to after-hours Safe Ride vans.
The first stabbing took place on Thursday at Davis’ Central Park. Police Chief Darren Pytel said at the time that the victim suffered from a “significant number of stab wounds.” Monday’s stabbing came shortly after the stabbing death on Saturday of UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, 20, who was a local student expected to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
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