A Massachusetts mother who says her daughters were among the victims of a stabbing spree that left six injured across two towns over the weekend is alleging that the suspect was “laughing the whole time” during the attack.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office says 26-year-old Jared Ravizza of Chilmark – a town on the island of Martha’s Vineyard – is now facing multiple charges following his arrest in connection to stabbing attacks at an AMC movie theater in Braintree and at a rest stop in Plymouth on Saturday night.
“I got a call from my sister that my oldest daughter had called her [and] that I needed to get to the AMC movie theater right away because they had been stabbed. Honestly, I just got in my car and headed right there,” Lisa Dembowski told reporters regarding the first incident, in which Braintree Police say four young females between the ages of 9 and 17 sustained “non-life-threatening injuries.”
“So they were the only four people in this movie theater. They had just sat down. They had just got their concessions. And I guess he came up behind them in the row – they were in the second row – and he came up behind them,” Dembowski added. “My oldest was leaned over to get something. He got her in the back and then my other daughter in the top of the chest. Then, my last daughter across her arm – laughing the whole time – and then got their friend and then ran off.”
Dembowski said her daughters are now “physically fine” but are “shaken up” and “terrified that they could just go to a movie on a Saturday night and this could happen, someone could just walk into a movie theater and do this.”
Officials say the movie theater stabbing happened around 6 p.m. before Ravizza allegedly carried out a second attack targeting McDonald’s employees at a rest stop along Route 3 in Plymouth about an hour later.
That attack, the district attorney’s office says, left a 21-year-old female and 28-year-old male injured.
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“Investigators reviewed surveillance video from the McDonald’s restaurant that appears to show Ravizza allegedly reach through the drive-thru window and stab the male victim with a large knife,” the office said. “Video then shows Ravizza leave the drive-thru in a black Porsche, park the car, go inside the McDonald’s, and stab the second female victim.”
Ravizza then allegedly fled the scene before being taken into custody around 7:15 p.m. in Sandwich, a town on Cape Cod.
“A witness at the McDonald’s reported the motor vehicle plate registration to Massachusetts State Police, and it was determined that the black 2018 Porsche Macan was registered to Ravizza,” the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said. “Police also learned that a BOLO had [been] issued for Ravizza’s arrests for other incidents.”
He is now facing charges including assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and is set to make his first court appearance Tuesday.
