WALTHAM, Mass. — A 16-year-old is in custody for allegedly stabbing two women in Waltham overnight.
Police were called twice early in the morning around 1:30 and 3:30, with one caller reporting that a man was covered in blood trying to break into a car. Police believed this was likely related to the stabbing on Wheelock Road and later found the teenager from Waltham around 5:13 a.m., according to a Waltham police news release.
An elementary school across the street from Wheelock Road had blood on its sidewalks and had to be hosed off by firefighters before children arrived for school.
Police say the teen stabbed the women repeatedly -- they’re graduate students at Brandeis University – and they’re recovering at a nearby hospital.
“It’s pretty terrifying to be honest,” says Jennifer Bailey, a neighbor and Brandeis student. “You think that you’re on a street where it’s safe and people can come in and just attack like that, it’s really, really frightening.
“Just immediately looking out the window and seeing all of these cops everywhere. And seeing the house in question. It was kind of surreal because that doesn’t really happen right here.”
Bailey says she received an automated call from Brandeis in the middle of the night, saying “suspect may be near the Stanley school or possibly on campus. Call police immediately if you see someone matching this description.”
Brandeis says the school will add extra patrols on campus for the next few days, even though the stabbing happened off campus.
“These girls are really quiet,” Bailey says. “They’re really respectful to neighbors. They’re nice people.”
“I just hope it’s not somebody I know and I pray for those girls that they get better soon,” added Afome Mkpulume, another Brandeis student.
The two women are expected to survive.
"The girls are really quiet and they have been renting for the past year," Bailey says. "They are really respectful and they don't have parties. They're nice people."