DAVIS, Calif. — A 21-year-old who was a student at the University of California, Davis, until last week was arrested for allegedly committing three recent stabbings, including two that were fatal, city police said.
Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said Thursday that Carlos Dominguez was taken into custody Wednesday after 15 people called in reports of a person who matched the description of the suspect in a local park. Pytel says that Dominguez had a large knife in his backpack. He was wearing the same clothes described by witnesses who saw the third stabbing.
Pytel says police believe Dominguez is responsible for all three stabbings.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Dominguez had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
NBC affiliate KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported it captured aerial footage of police Wednesday afternoon speaking with a person near a downtown park where the second victim, a 20-year-old student at the University of California, Davis, was killed.
Officers were then seen placing the person in the back of a patrol car.
Davis is a small city about 70 miles northeast of San Francisco and 15 miles west of Sacramento. There are roughly 67,000 residents in the city in addition to more than 13,000 students who live on the UC Davis campus.
Following three violent stabbings — two of which were fatal — police in Davis, California say they are now questioning a person of interest, who was detained just a block away from one of the deadly attacks.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 4, 2023
He is not yet considered a suspect. https://t.co/L4F6wSBq35 pic.twitter.com/kBba6Y1Y6u
Davis police did not return phone calls and emails seeking more information.
The first death was reported Thursday when officers found David Henry Breaux, 50, in downtown’s Central Park, hunched over a bench where he often sat or slept.
The second victim, Karim Abou Najm, was found Saturday night at Sycamore Park with multiple stab wounds.
A homeless woman who is in her 60s was the victim of Monday’s stabbing.
