‘Terrified’: Mother of girls stabbed in Braintree theater says suspect was laughing during attack

AMC Braintree 10 movie theater was back open Sunday after four kids were stabbed the night before. The suspect, 26-year-old Jared Ravizza, was later arrested on Cape Cod and is connected to a death investigation in Connecticut and the stabbing of two McDonald’s employees in Plymouth on the same day.

Lisa Dembowski said her three daughters and a friend went to see the movie “IF” when they were attacked.

“Shaken up, they are physically fine I think they are, kids are resilient but I think they are terrified,” said Dembowski.

She said the four kids were the only ones in the theater when the suspect came up behind them. Dembowski said her oldest daughter was leaning forward when she was stabbed.

“He got her in the back and then my other daughter in the top chest and then my last daughter across her arm, laughing the whole time and then got their friend and ran off,” she said.

Dembowski said the girls tried chasing the suspect but stopped to ask employees for help.

“AMC didn’t believe them, didn’t do anything actually and they had to call the police themselves,” she said.

Dembowski said her three daughters were taken to Boston Medical Center to be evaluated by a trauma team, they’re now recovering at home.

“They don’t want to go to the movies ever again. The two younger ones I think are just handling it a little better the older one is very protective of them,” she said, “She had to protect them and deal with it all and make the calls to the police and make the calls to us and do everything that adults should be doing.”

Dembowski said her kids don’t know the suspect or why he allegedly went on this violent spree.

“I hope he gets what he deserves,” she said, “I understand mental health I’m a counselor I understand it, I think it’s a pretty sick individual to harm children.”

In a statement, an AMC spokesperson told Boston 25 video footage shows staff responding to the incident quickly and that the movie theater chain is “saddened by this senseless act of violence.”

“The welfare of our guests and associates is AMC’s top priority, and we are saddened by this senseless act of violence. We are heartened to learn the victims are recovering, and we are reaching out to their families privately.

At all of our locations, AMC has multiple security features and procedures in place, the specifics of which we do not disclose or discuss publicly. We have already begun to conduct a thorough review of this incident. Based on theatre associate accounts and video footage, the theatre team jumped into action immediately, calling emergency services and administering aid to the victims.

A visible security presence will be in place at this location for the immediate future.”

—  Ryan Noonan, AMC Public Relations Director

The Plymouth County District Attorney said Sunday that Ravizza is facing counts of assault with intent to murder, and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after he allegedly attacked two employees at a Plymouth McDonald’s an hour after driving away from the Braintree AMC.

The DA’s office says surveillance video shows Ravizza reaching through the McDonald’s drive-thru window at the Route 3 rest area, stabbing a 28-year-old male employee with a large knife. Officials say Ravizza then parked his black Porsche, went inside the McDonald’s and stabbed a second employee, a 21-year-old woman. Both victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals.

Ravizza then fled the plaza, eventually totaling the Porsche in a fiery crash on Cotuit Road in Sandwich, where he was taken into custody.

Ravizza is currently being held at South Shore Hospital while he is treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Sources also tell Boston 25 that Ravizza is also connected to a death investigation in Deep River, Connecticut that began earlier that Saturday afternoon.

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