A man was charged with aggravated assault after stabbing two people at a MARTA station Tuesday morning, authorities said. And Atlanta police believe he may be the same person wanted in connection with a triple stabbing Monday in another part of the city.
Ahmad Jameel Rasheed, 32, was arrested after Atlanta and MARTA police identified him as the attacker in the train station stabbing.
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Officers were sent to a location between the Mercy Care clinic and the King Memorial MARTA station on Decatur Street just after 9 a.m., Atlanta police spokesman Officer Steve Avery told AJC.com.
Investigators found a 60-year-old man who had been stabbed outside the station, Avery said. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Atlanta police learned MARTA officers were already searching the area for a suspect who had stabbed another person on a train, Avery said.
Credit: MARTA Police Department
Credit: MARTA Police Department
Atlanta officers joined in the search, and a witness in the area pointed Rasheed out, Avery said. Rasheed tried to run away, but he was captured after a brief chase.
During Rasheed’s arrest, police found a knife believed to be used in the incidents, according to MARTA police spokeswoman Sgt. Deneya Littles. The person who was stabbed on the train was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, she said.
According to Avery, investigators believe Rasheed was the man who randomly attacked three people in southwest Atlanta on Monday morning.
Authorities responded to the 2400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive about 11:10 a.m. and found two men with stab wounds to the neck, police said. A third man was found with stab wounds in the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The three victims from that incident are expected to be OK. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, APD homicide Detective Pete Malecki said Rasheed’s encounters with his victims were random and brief.
“It was seemingly unprovoked,” Malecki said. “In all these incidents, there was no conversation that took place.”
Malecki said Rasheed is not speaking with investigators and his motive is still unclear.
Police said Rasheed matches the description of the suspect in Monday’s stabbing, but the homicide unit is still working to determine if he was involved in both attacks.
Rasheed faces one count of aggravated assault in connection with the attack on the MARTA train and an additional count of aggravated assault stemming from APD’s investigation. Additional charges are expected, authorities said.
