6 people were stabbed at a restaurant and a movie theater, including 4 girls. Now, new details are emerging about a suspect

WCVB, CNN

By Nic F. Anderson and Holly Yan, CNN

(CNN) — A suspect accused of stabbing a man through a McDonald’s drive-through window and then stabbing a woman inside the restaurant was arrested last month on suspicion of assaulting a family member, court records show.

Massachusetts police are also investigating whether the assailant at the McDonald’s in Plymouth also stabbed four girls between ages 9 and 17 about an hour earlier at a movie theater in Braintree.

Jared Ravizza, 26, is the suspect in “multiple South Shore stabbing incidents,” the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said, though no details were given for the other incidents.

Braintree police have said it “appears as though” the attacks at the movie theater and the McDonald’s are related.

Ravizza was arrested and faces charges of assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the attack at McDonald’s. The suspect is expected to appear in court Tuesday, and it was not immediately clear Monday whether Ravizza had an attorney.

Last month, Ravizza was arrested on Martha’s Vineyard, accused of assault and battery of a family member and vandalism, according to records at Edgartown District Court. Records show that case has not been adjudicated.

Ravizza’s father told officers Jared “had just had a mental break and attacked him” inside his home, The Boston Globe reported, citing a police report on file with the court.

The report also said Ravizza allegedly wrecked the father’s home office, according to The Boston Globe. Ravizza was sent to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for a mental health evaluation, but “did not meet their standards to be held,” the Boston Globe reported, citing the report.

How the weekend stabbings unfolded

The first attack happened around 6 p.m. Saturday at an AMC movie theater in Braintree.

“Without saying anything and without any warning, (the assailant) suddenly attacked and stabbed the four young females,” police said. “The attack appeared to be unprovoked. After the attack, the (suspect) ran out of the theater and left in a vehicle.”

The girls were taken to Boston hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Braintree police said.

The theater was put on lockdown shortly after the incident, an AMC employee told CNN.

The suspect fled the theater in what appeared to be a black SUV, and video footage allowed authorities to capture its license plate, authorities said.

A vehicle matching the description was “reportedly involved in (a) similar assault in Plymouth,” about 25 miles southeast of Braintree, police said.

About an hour after the movie theater stabbings, a 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man were stabbed at the McDonald’s in Plymouth.

Ravizza allegedly arrived at the scene of the Plymouth McDonald’s in a black Porsche Macan SUV, prosecutors said.

Surveillance footage from the McDonald’s appears to show Ravizza reach through the drive-through window and stab the male victim with a large knife, prosecutors said.

Video then shows the suspect park the car, enter the restaurant and stab the female victim before fleeing in the car, the district attorney’s office said.

Both victims from the McDonald’s attack were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Minutes after the McDonald’s stabbings, state troopers located the suspect’s car and tried to pull it over, authorities said. But the driver failed to stop, and a chase ensued.

The suspect’s vehicle eventually crashed in Sandwich, about a 25-minute drive south of Plymouth, police said.

Ravizza was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital Sunday, the prosecutor’s office said.

While Ravizza faces assault charges in connection with the McDonald’s attack, “Preliminary investigation suggests a likely connection to an earlier incident at a movie theater in Braintree resulting in non-life threatening injuries to four juveniles,” state police said.

It was not immediately clear whether Ravizza has an attorney. CNN has sought more information from Massachusetts State Police, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and the Braintree Police Department.

Massachusetts State Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Investigators probe another possible link

Aside from the Massachusetts stabbings, Connecticut State Police said a suspect linked to a death in the town of Deep River had been taken into custody in Massachusetts. But police in neither state have confirmed whether the Connecticut case is connected to the stabbings in Massachusetts.

Connecticut State Police said they responded Saturday afternoon to a “disturbance” at an address in Deep River. There, police found a “deceased individual” whose identity has not been confirmed, Connecticut State Police said.

“A suspect in this investigation has been taken into custody in the State of Massachusetts and there is no active threat to the public,” Connecticut police said. Authorities did not name that suspect.

CNN’s Celina Tebor, Paradise Afshar, Samantha Beech, Artemis Moshtaghian, Caroll Alvarado and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.

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