Calgary police said Tuesday that two men — aged 21 and 29 — were arrested in connection with three “violent random stabbings” that took place within eight minutes on Tuesday, Dec. 21.
Police said at around 4 a.m., three people were randomly stabbed within that time frame, in close proximity to the downtown core.
Investigators believe the attacks were random and were done “simply to intentionally cause harm to others,” CPS said in a news release.
The first person was sprayed with a fire extinguisher before being stabbed in the lower back near the LRT platform at 7 Avenue and 4 Street S.W., police said. He was able to make it to a nearby medical facility for help and was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, CPS said.
Then, in a bus shelter near the same intersection, a man who was sleeping was sprayed with a fire extinguisher and then stabbed in the abdomen. He was able to get to the nearby LRT station and used the helpline to call for help. He was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, police said.
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The third attack took place at the LRT station at 7 Avenue and 7 Street S.W., according to CPS. A man was leaving the CTrain and was sprayed with a fire extinguisher while walking on the platform. Then he was stabbed in the lower back and rib cage. He was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, police said.
CPS said investigators used CCTV images from Calgary Transit to get descriptions of the two offenders.
Later, a search warrant was executed at a home in the 900 block of 7 Avenue S.W., on Thursday, Dec. 23.
During the search, two men were arrested and a number of items believed to be connected to the investigation were seized, including clothing that matched the description of the suspects, a number of knives, zap-strap cuffs, bear spray, brass knuckles, small quantities of various drugs, 7mm ammunition and a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle.
Asher Atter, 21, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of breach of probation, one count of breach of a release order.
Jaymes Richardson, 29, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of assault with a weapon, one count of careless storage of a firearm, one count of possession of a weapon dangerous, one count of unauthorized possession of a firearm, one count of unlicensed weapon, one count of no registration of a firearm, and one count of possession of a restricted weapon.
“We will not tolerate this kind of violence within our city,” said Staff Sgt. Kurt Jacobs in a release.
“Our team of talented and dedicated investigators, along with the District Operations Team, are very good at what they do.
“If you seek to harm others, they will find you and you will be held accountable for your actions. In this case, the suspects will be spending the holidays in jail while our victims and their families recover from these senseless attacks.”
Atter and Richardson are set to appear in court on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.