Two victims in a series of stabbings in Taunton, Massachusetts, have died, as well as the suspect, authorities said Tuesday night.
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He had been released from Morton Hospital that morning, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said while briefing media on the case around noon Wednesday. Kathleen Slavin, 48, was listed in stable condition.
Sheenah Savoy was working as a waitress at the Bertucci’s at Silver City Galleria Tuesday night when she was stabbed multiple times by 28-year-old Arthur DaRosa in a seemingly random attack.
Once inside the restaurant, he stabbed two people, including George Heath, 56, a high school teacher who later died.
An off-duty sheriff’s deputy, who happened to be in the restaurant, shot DaRosa dead with a single bullet.
On Tuesday evening, when he started stabbing people at the restaurant, Creed “displayed his badge” and “gave multiple demands for DaRosa to drop the knife” before shooting him once in the abdomen, Quinn said.
“Mr. Heath was a tremendous educator with a great passion for teaching; he was influential in sparking creativity and a love of learning in all of his students”.
The two victims killed in a deadly rampage in Taunton have been identified as a New Bedford teacher and an 80-year-old widow. Another man was stabbed to death as he tried to save the waitress from Darosa.
DaRosa tried to carjack multiple people driving or stopped nearby, but finally got back into the Honda, then drove to the mall a few miles away and crashed the auto into the front entrance of Macy’s.
Three people at Macy’s were also injured during the incident, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
“It appears that but for the actions of the deputy sheriff, there may very well have been other victims”, Quinn said in the statement.
Both women were transported to a hospital, where one of the women succumbed to her injuries. DaRosa assaulted “multiple” people inside the store and then moved on to Bertucci’s, police said.
“I don’t want to discuss guns or mental health issues, she said”.
DaRosa left his vehicle and “gained access” to a nearby home, where he allegedly stabbed two women who were inside.
Kerri Devries said her younger brother had battled depression for years and was hospitalized as recently as Monday.
Darosa was manic and having suicidal thoughts on Monday, according to his family.
“Changes in appetite, changes in sleeping habits, isolation, also if someone seems to be responding to voices and you don’t hear what they’re listening to it could be a sign something’s going on”, she said of warning signs to look out for.
“I think that we’ve seen in this state that we have more work to do in terms of making sure that we’re taking the necessary steps to provide that kind of safety and security and access to mental health services more generally”, said Healey.
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An off-duty sheriff’s deputy then fatally shot DaRosa.
