Police investigating 2 separate stabbings near Rockville metro stations
ROCKVILLE, Md. - Rockville police are investigating two stabbings near two metro stations in the area.
The first call came in just before 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13. Police responded to the Twinbrook Metro station for a report of a stabbing.
When they arrived, they found an adult man who said he had been approached by an unknown suspect and was stabbed. Metro Transit Police say it happened at one of the bus bays near the kiss-and-ride lot. They are now handling the investigation.
"I live close enough here so I can walk to Twinbrook and I’m planning on doing that in a little and so that’s a little concerning — they have not caught this person," Sue Struve said. "That’s the first I’ve heard of anything like this in this area though. I mean for the most part I feel that it’s a pretty pretty safe area. I’m a single older woman and I felt pretty safe in this area so that’s kind of surprising."
Just a few minutes later, the Rockville officers also responded to a separate call for a stabbing in the 1500 block of Rockville Pike near the metro station.
There, another man was found to have been stabbed in the back, again by an unknown suspect. The victim had just left his job at this Persion Furniture Store across from Congressional Plaza. He was waiting at this bus stop when he was attacked.
"He came in and he was kind of screaming and holding his neck, saying that somebody stabbed him into the neck and he came to the office. I had him sit down. I went to the bathroom and grabbed lots of paper towels and got to the wound and wrapped it up and then then I called 911," John Hashempour told FOX 5.
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Hashempour is the store's owner and the victim's boss.
"We get lots of this kind of suspicious people around. They come in to use the bathroom. This is very sad. He's a very nice guy," Hashempour said. "He had an inch and a quarter cut on his jacket. Went through 2 1/2 inches. So right away they had to operate on him."
But he's apparently going to be ok.
"He was very lucky because this area you seen is the movies, they cut the throat. So, it went this way, straight to toward his shoulder, not across," Hashempour said. "He was very lucky."
The stabbing suspect is described as a Black man wearing all black clothing and he remains at large.
"I live close enough here so I can walk to Twinbrook and I’m planning on doing that in a little and so that’s a little concerning — they have not caught this person," Sue Struve said. "That’s the first I’ve heard of anything like this in this area though. I mean for the most part I feel that it’s a pretty pretty safe area. I’m a single older woman and I felt pretty safe in this area so that’s kind of surprising."
Metro Transit Police are continuing to work with Montgomery County and Rockville City police on the case. They say they don't have security camera images to share right now.
"I feel for the victims and I feel for the person who did it too because even though it’s a bad thing that they did you know they could be super disadvantaged or who knows what. So my sympathies to everyone," Struve said.
Police say these incidents were not robberies — just random attacks. They are reminding residents to remain aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious activity to 911 immediately.