Sadly, shooting sprees are popular all over the world... but what about stabbing sprees? These disturbing true stories of insane knife-wielding maniacs take place anywhere, from D.C. sidewalks, to British shopping centers, to the streets of Tokyo. Senseless stabbing attacks seem to happen in broad daylight, with adults and children witnessing the massacres, if not being victims to them. Whether it's terrorism or psychosis (although perhaps the former is impossible without the latter), this list of crazy public knife attacks will shock you.
Passer-bys are not immune to these murderous maniacs, as the knife wielders who perpetrated the crimes on this list will stab pedestrians at random. That's what's so scary about these chilling tales; there is no rhyme nor reason to the fatal stabbings, no pattern to speak of - and the sheer randomness of them is terrifying. Take the Canadian beheading on a Greyhound bus ride. Or the slashing at a Wal-Mart in Texas. How about the Hollywood Walk of Fame? And a stabbing spree at a Target? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
31 Deranged People Who Committed Random Public Knife Attacks,
Killing of Tim McLean
22-year-old Tim McLean was napping on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba when Vince Weiguang Li began stabbing him in the chest and neck - before beheading him and showing McLean's decapitated head to fellow passengers. Then he ate some of it. Li was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and will spend the rest of his life in a high-security mental institution.
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Munich Train Station Knife Attack
In May 2016, a man at a train station outside Munich, Germany began screaming "Allahu ackbar" and stabbing anyone in his path. One man was killed and three others wounded when the attacker, who hasn't been identified, began randomly knifing people. He stabbed two men on the platform, then ran across and stabbed two more men on bicycles before being subdued by police. Authorities claim the man had no connection to Islamic terror groups, and had been in and out of mental health treatment for years.
Minnesota Mall Attack: Maybe ISIS, Probably a Random Pscyho
On September 17, 2016, a man dressed in a security uniform entered Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, MN around 8:00 pm, made some comments about Allah, asked at least one person whether s/he was Muslim, then attacked random shoppers with a knife, injuring nine, one of whom is in life threatening condition the week after the attack. The attacker was shot dead by an off duty police officer.
Ashley Bane, an employee of the JC Penny in the mall, said of the attack, "There was a bunch of people running into the JCPenney mall entrance, and they were just screaming that someone was going around the mall stabbing people, and that there was blood everywhere."
An ISIS-affiliated group took credit for the attack, though its doing so follows a pattern of such groups taking credit for random acts of violence committed by isolated individuals throughout the world. Though the FBI remains wary of possible terrorist connections, Blair Anderson, St. Cloud chief of police, said, "We haven't uncovered anything that would suggest other than a lone attacker..."
Las Vegas Casino Knife Attack
In the summer of 2013, a lunatic at a casino randomly stabbed a man in public, slashing him in the face before Metro Police arrived at the scene.
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Akihabara Massacre
In 2008, a 25-year-old man went on a public stabbing spree in a Tokyo shopping district.randomly knifing bystanders, injuring 10 and killing seven.
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Wal-Mart Meltdown
A Fort Collins Super Wal-Mart turned into a crime scene in 2008 after a knife-wielding man attacked 20-year-old Frank McConnell in public and in broad daylight before driving away.
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Knife-Wielding Pennsylvania Student
On April 9 2014,16-year-old Franklin Regional Senior High School student Alex Hribal, went on a stabbing spree. Wielding two knives, he went through the hallways, wounding 21 people before he was stopped by an assistant principal. Hirbal was arraigned as an adult and faces four counts of attempted homicide; 21 counts of aggravated assault; and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds.
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Giants vs. Dodgers Stabbing
Crazy public knife attacks took a new high (or low) in San Francisco when a Dodgers vs. Giants fight escalated to the point of a fatal stabbing of a Dodgers fan at the game. A group of fans from each team had been arguing after the game, when the "verbal disagreement" turned violent. Charges were never filed against the stabber, as the district attorney's office couldn't prove it wasn't in self-defense.
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West Hollywood Target Lady
Layla Trawick stabbed four random people at a Target in West Hollywood in 2010, as she came screaming out of the cosmetics aisle holding a butcher knife in one hand and a steak knife in the other.
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NPR Intern Sidewalk Stabbing
A 20-year-old Boston University student was almost murdered on her way to a Summer 2010 internship at NPR in D.C. when a deranged 24-year-old woman began attacking her with a knife, randomly stabbing the stranger all over her body. The attacker, Melodie Brevard, was later found to be bipolar and off her medication.
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