Police in Davis and at UC Davis were bolstering their patrols Wednesday and getting help from Bay Area and federal agencies after a string of violent stabbings in the past week that may be connected to one suspect still at-large.
Two people have died and one is in critical condition after three stabbings in five days in the college town just outside Sacramento. Police said each of the victims was stabbed several times.
Investigators believe the crimes could be connected to one suspect, but they hadn't yet determined that fact. No arrests have been made.
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UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco sent officers to help patrol the UC Davis campus, and campus police at UC Davis have tripled their patrols. The FBI also is assisting with the investigation.
The latest stabbing was reported at about 11:45 p.m. Monday, when a 64-year-old woman was stabbed through a tent and critically injured, police said. The suspect in that incident was described as a light complected male with curly hair; about 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 9 inches tall; and a thin build. He was wearing a black or blue sweatshirt, black adidas pants with white stripes and black shoes, and he was carrying a brown backpack, police said.
Two previous stabbings on April 27 and 29 killed a 50-year-old man and a 20-year-old UC Davis student, respectively. Both of those stabbings occurred in city parks after dark, police said.
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Police Chief Darren Pytel urged people to avoid putting themselves in danger.
"Be aware of your surroundings, know who may be watching, avoid places where you can’t really see anything," Pytel said. "Lighting is important."
Pytel asked the FBI to send a profiler to try to determine if the same person stabbed all three victims.
Davis Mayor Will Arnold said they are working to get as many unhoused people as possible off the streets and into shelters.
"This is unprecedented in our community," he said. "I've lived here my entire life, and I've never seen anything like this.”
NBC Bay Area reporters Jodi Hernandez and Thom Jensen contributed to this report.
