Calgary police looking for suspects in 5 stabbings

One woman is dead and four people are in hospital following a series ofearly morningstabbings on Wednesday that Calgary police suspect werecommitted by the same group of people.

The victims, who wereattacked over the course of an hour,didn't know each other and don't appear to have known their attackers,said acting StaffSgt. Patty McCallum.

She said police are trying to figure out if the victims were specifically targeted, or if they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"We haven't clearly defined that, so it's a difficult thing to say how they're related or what exactly is the common link between them all," she said. "It's unusual to have this many attacks in a one-hour window."

The first victim, a Calgary woman, was stabbed near the cornerof 17th Avenue and 11th Street SWshortly after 4 a.m.MT. She later died in hospital and police haven't yet released her name.

The other victims are expected to recover. They include:

• A 21-year-old man who was stabbed at 15th Avenue and 2nd Street SW.
• A 42-year-old man stabbed at 16th Avenue and 2nd Street NE.
• A 43-year-old man stabbed in the 4400 block of Centre Street N.
• A 23-year-old woman stabbed and slashed at 44th Street and 21st Avenue SE.

On Wednesday morning, police in rubber gloves took pictures, measurements and samples at the site of the fatal stabbing. Other officers interviewed witnesses.

Police said they are looking for three or four black men between the ages of 20 and 30 who were in a light-coloured, possibly beige or silver, newer-model sedan. McCallum said the descriptions of the suspects and cars in each stabbing are similar.

Be vigilant, police warn

McCallum warned people in Calgary to be careful when they are out late at night.

"I guess there's always the concern that when people are out late, and if you've been drinking or partying and it's Stampede week that they always have to be vigilant," she said.

"And in most cases, these people were alone, so that makes them more vulnerable and is perhaps why they were targeted."

Some Calgarians say the stabbings are disconcerting.

"This city has never been as scary as it is right now and I've lived here for 50-some odd years," resident Doris Sloan said.