Elias Abuelazam has been taken into custody as a suspect in the killing of five African American men and the wounding of at least 17 others, all of whom were black except one. An Israeli citizen, he was apprehended trying to leave the U.S. for Tel Aviv.
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Elias Abuelazam was stopped while trying to board a Delta Air Lines flight to Tel Aviv; residents in Virginia said he was a pleasant neighbor.
By The Associated Press
Virginia police on Thursday said that Elias Abuelazam, an Israeli man arrested in the United States for alleged involvement in a string of 18 stabbings that left five dead, apprently chose his victims by their skin color.
Abuelazam was stopped while trying to board a Delta Air Lines flight to Tel Aviv, Israel, said Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesman at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The victims in the attacks have been mostly black, and police suspect the attacks may have been racially motivated. The youngest victim was 17; the oldest was 60. They ranged in size from 5-foot-4 inches and 120 pounds to 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds.
Abuelazam's neighbors in Virginia said they never suspected him of exhibiting racist tendencies and that he was a pleasant neighbor, despite hearing some domestic disturbances.
Antwione Marshall, 26, of Flint, the victim of that attack, told The Associated Press that the FBI visited him at 3 a.m. to show him a picture of the man arrested in Atlanta, and he identified him as the assailant.
Marshall said he was going into his apartment building when the assailant approached and asked for help fixing his car. He was stabbed twice when he opened the hood. Three of his organs were cut, and he has a long scar from his chest to his pelvic area.
Marshall said he wants to retaliate but "I'll let God handle it. Every time I look at my scar, I get angry."
In Michigan, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said authorities still don't know the motive. Most victims were black, and police have said the attacks may have been racially motivated, though Leyton said there was no evidence of that.
Atlanta police said they went to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at the request of Michigan State Police and paged Abuelazam over the intercom as he waited to board a Delta Air Lines flight to Tel Aviv.
Passengers on that flight said as they arrived in Tel Aviv that he was tense and talking on his cell phone when he was arrested at the boarding gate shortly before takeoff. They said six police officers led him away without incident.
"He was talking on the phone. I didn't hear what he said," Romi Shaked, who was on the plane, told The Associated Press. "I just saw him talking to different people and moving around and sitting in different seats."
Leyton said Abuelazam's uncle bought him the plane ticket, which cost about $3,000, and is now cooperating with police.
The suspect has ties to Flint and to Leesburg, Va., the site of three similar attacks last week, Leesburg Police Officer Chris Jones said.
"While this is a key step in the investigation, there are still many issues that need to be addressed before we identify this individual as the person responsible for this horrific crime spree," Jones said.
Police in Arlington, Va., said Abuelazam was arrested there during a routine traffic stop last week.
Arlington Detective Crystal L. Nosal said police realized he was wanted on a simple assault warrant in Leesburg, about 30 miles away, but a magistrate released him on personal recognizance, meaning he was responsible for returning to court.
Leyton, the Michigan prosecutor, said the Arlington stop was for failure to obey a highway sign and police found a knife in the driver's side door and a hammer on the floor of Abuelazam's 1996 green and gold Chevrolet Blazer. A hammer was used in one attack in Virginia, on a 19-year-old man in a parking lot.
Police impounded the Blazer, which matched a vehicle described by some stabbing victims who survived, then gave it back to Abuelazam, Leyton said.
According to court records in Loudoun County, where Leesburg is located, Abuelazam was arrested in December 2007 and charged with felony gun possession. Those charges were dropped the next year.
He was also charged with misdemeanor assault in 2008, and had a court date scheduled next week.
Abuelazam is an Israeli citizen who is living in the U.S. with a green card, Leyton said.
Police had focused their hunt on Flint - where 16 stabbings took place - until Leesburg police reported three attacks. Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, say a stabbing in that city Saturday appears to be linked to the violent spree.
In Mount Morris Township, near Flint, a few dozen people who heard about the arrest gathered outside a convenience store where Abuelazam worked. One yelled that the owner should have been suspicious. Police cleared the parking lot.
"He was a good guy. All of my employees, we never thought nothing about the guy," said Abdulla Farrah, manager of Kingwater Market.
Farrah said Abuelazam worked there for about a month before leaving Aug. 1. He said investigators looked at store video Wednesday.
Jessica Abuelazam, an Arlington, Texas, woman who identified herself as Elias' ex-wife, said she was struggling to cope with the news too.
"I'm shocked," she said in a phone interview. "I'm trying to figure out what's going on."
As of Wednesday afternoon, a task force led by the Michigan State Police and including the FBI had received 469 tips.
The attacks began in late spring and police said they usually followed a pattern: The suspect approached black men late at night on lonely urban roads and asked for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then, without warning, he pulled out a knife and struck. Then, he sped away, leaving them for dead.
The brazen nature and the frequency of the attacks - the assailant struck an average of about once every four days since the first stabbing in May - has terrified some of those in cities he's already targeted.
Latest update 20:21 12.08.10
Shock in Ramle at U.S. arrest of former neighbor
Elias Abuelazam, an Israeli citizen living in the U.S., was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a string of 20 stabbings that left five dead.
By Yaniv Kubovich
Ramle residents were shocked by news Thursday night that an Israeli citizen believed to be a former resident of their city was arrested in the U.S. on suspicion of involvement in a string of 20 stabbings that terrorized people across three states and left five dead.
A judge in Flint, Mich., where the attacks began in late May, signed a warrant Thursday charging Elias Abuelazam, 33, with assault with intent to murder in connection with a July 27 stabbing.
Abuelazam, an Israeli citizen living legally in the U.S., reportedly recently visited Israel for his sister's wedding.
One Ramle resident said Abuelazam left Israel at age 19 or 20 after finishing high school.
Another resident said Abuelazam was orphaned by his father at a young age.
The resident added that Abuelazam was allegedly involved with criminals and had a violent streak, which led his mother to send him abroad.
However, other neighbors who studied with Abuelazam in high school said he avoided violence, despite his physical build. They added, however, that Abuelazam seemed to have undergone significant changes during his recent visit to Israel.
A., a former neighbor and classmate, said Abuelazam was pleasant during the time they studied together, but that lately he would picks fights with "anyone who looked him in the eye."
He added when Abuelazam got angry, it took three people to restrain him.
"In recent years he experienced something that changed him entirely. He started using drugs, so his family sent him abroad."
Other rumors in Ramle alleged that Abuelazam engaged in relationships with older women in the U.S. who then supported him financially.
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