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Grand Forks police seeking suspect in double stabbing

GRAND FORKS -- Grand Forks police are still seeking suspect in a Monday morning double stabbing at an apartment complex near University Avenue and North 42nd Street.

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Grand Forks police, using a search dog, look through storage units near 4265 Fifth Ave. N., where a double stabbing took place on Monday morning, Sept. 4. Sam Easter / Forum News Service

GRAND FORKS -- Grand Forks police are still seeking suspect in a Monday morning double stabbing at an apartment complex near University Avenue and North 42nd Street.

The incident occurred at about 10 a.m. Sept. 4 at 4265 Fifth Ave. N., a building in a cluster of apartment buildings west of the University of North Dakota campus. When police arrived, they found two stabbing victims -- a man and a woman -- who both sought medical attention at Altru Hospital for their injuries. The woman’s injuries were the more severe of the two, police said, and she was transported via ambulance. As of early afternoon, she was in stable condition.

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Sgt. Travis Benson said the suspect is a Hispanic man between 24 and 28 years old, slightly more than 6 feet tall, with a skinny build, short hair and some facial hair and is wearing a green shirt and jeans. The suspect’s motives aren’t clear, Benson said, though he does not appear to have known the victims.

After the incident, the suspect fled on foot. Benson said the police have since received conflicting reports on the direction the suspect went and are no longer actively searching the immediate area.

“We’re relatively certain that, at least at this time, there’s no hot lead that we can follow as far as a specific apartment -- even a direction,” Benson said. “This is where we kind of slow down and have to dig into what we have to determine who this person is and where they are.”

Shortly after the call to police, the apartment complex was a hub of police activity. During the 11 a.m. hour, at least eight different Grand Forks police cruisers were spotted on scene, as well as two North Dakota Highway Patrol vehicles and one Customs and Border Protection cruiser. Multiple law enforcement officials were seen looking through storage units near the apartment building, including a group with a search dog.

If the public spots the suspect, Benson advised them to call the police and not to approach the individual.

DeAnthony Egerton, who lives in the apartment building, said he heard heavy footfalls on the stairs until a person he said was a stabbing victim came to his door and asked him to call police.

“Once he came to my front door, I locked my door immediately for the kids’ sake,” he said. “You never know who’s the suspect, who’s the victim, or whoever did what. Regardless of what happened, I’m defending this house at this point in time.”

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Dustin Mayotte was smoking a cigarette shortly before noon at an apartment porch across the parking lot. He was unsure what police presence was for until informed by a reporter, then responded with shock.

“It’s a little scary -- this close to home,” Mayotte said.

Sam Easter is a freelance reporter who has been a regular contributor to the Herald since 2019. He covers a variety of topics, including government and politics.

In 2015, he joined the Herald’s staff as City Hall reporter, covering North Dakota politics at all levels and conducting Herald investigations through early 2018, when he began his freelancing career.

Easter can be reached at samkweaster@gmail.com or via Twitter via @samkweaster.
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