Leesburg, Va., police say person of interest arrested in serial stabbings in Mich., Va.

Police say person arrested in serial stabbings

Authorities have arrested a man in connection with a stabbing spree that left several men wounded and five dead in three states, police in Leesburg, Va. said Thursday.

The man was arrested late Wednesday afternoon and was being held on unrelated charges, police said.

Leesburg Police Officer Chris Jones said authorities believe the man could be the suspect and has ties to Leesburg and to Flint, Mich., where the attacks began May 24.

Jones says police “have information that he was trying to leave the country.”

Police had been focusing their hunt on Flint until Leesburg police reported three similar attacks last week. Authorities in Toledo, Ohio say a stabbing in that city Saturday appears to be linked to the violent spree.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a task force led by the Michigan State Police and including the FBI had received 469 tips. Those tips have been passed out to the various law enforcement teams involved in the case.

The task force released a list Wednesday of the dates, times and locations of the 16 stabbings in the Flint area, about 50 miles northwest of Detroit.

That list showed the suspect was most active during pre-dawn hours and on Mondays.

Of the 16 attacks, six were committed between 12:15 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Mondays. Four of the fatal attacks also were on Mondays, according to a list provided by the task force.

Six attacks happened in the hour or so just before dawn on other days.