A man with a knife was seen stabbing people in the popular Cascades Park in Tallahassee the evening of Sept. 10, including one woman who was holding a baby.
The two women injured are in stable condition, a Tallahassee Police Department spokesperson said, and the suspect was found dead. Police have not released the names of the victims or suspect.
Here’s what we know.
What happened in Cascades Park, Tallahassee?
A witness reported seeing a man with a large knife “jump out” at a woman who appeared to be walking back to her car in the Department of Transportation parking lot.
TPD said it happened around 7:39 p.m, Cascades Park is full of joggers and people socializing in the evenings, about a quarter mile from the Florida Capitol.
“He started stabbing her,” jogger Dimonte Riles said, “and then he took off running. And she fell to the ground.” He said the park was full of people, some of whom rushed to help the victim and her baby.
One witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said their family was walking to their car when it happened.
“All I heard was, ‘He has a knife, please get your babies in the car.’ We immediately threw our kids into the car and the moment we closed the doors, the guy was walking behind our car with a 10-inch knife… He held the knife in his left hand,” this person said.
What happened to the suspect in the Tallahassee stabbing? Is the stabbing suspect dead?
According to other reports, about six minutes after the stabbing someone jumped into the large stormwater pond in the middle of the park and appeared to struggle before going underwater multiple times. Witnesses reported seeing bubbles and then nothing.
TPD officers continued to warn people that the suspect was at large as they put a boat in the pond and searched the dark waters by flashlight, but by midnight a TPD watch commander told the Tallahassee Democrat there was no longer “a threat to the community.”
TPD posted on social media just after 1 a.m. Sept. 11 that “The suspect has been located deceased and positively identified.”
No motive has been mentioned. Investigations are ongoing.
Who was stabbed in Cascades Park in Tallahassee?
Police reported that two adult women were stabbed and in stable condition at a local hospital. Neither of their names have been released.
Where is Cascades Park in Tallahassee?
Cascades Park is a 24-acre park in Tallahassee, Florida, just south of the state Capitol. The park is situated along a stream known as the St. Augustine Branch and features an outdoor ampitheater, a children’s play area, an interactive fountain, a waterfall, several ponds, and multiple biking and walking trails.
The park was named a Nationally Registered Historic Place because in the 1800s people sent to find a location for the state Capitol recommended the Tallahassee area after seeing the waterfall.
Cascades Park contains Florida’s Prime meridian marker monument, the initial point for U.S. government surveys throughout Florida.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee Cascades Park stabbing leaves 2 injured, suspect found dead