Las Vegas mass stabbing: Suspect and two victims identified after lone wolf attacked eight with kitchen knife
Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, and Brent Allan Hallett, 47, were both killed in the knife attack while another six victims also sustained stab wounds
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The suspect and two victims of the horror Las Vegas mass stabbing have now been identified, after a lone wolf attacked eight people with a kitchen knife along the Sin City strip.
Yoni Barrios, 32, is accused of going on a random stabbing rampage on the sidewalk of the Las Vegas Boulevard on Thursday, moments after he allegedly asked to pose for photos with a group of showgirls.
Barrios, who is not a resident of Las Vegas, was found on the scene covered in his victims’ blood and was immediately taken into custody by responding officers.
He has now been booked into Clark County Detention Center on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.
Police said the motive for the attack is currently unknown but that it was an “isolated incident” where the perpetrator “acted alone”.
Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, and Brent Allan Hallett, 47, were both killed in the knife attack while another six unnamed victims – including some Vegas showgirls – also sustained stab wounds.
Both slain victims were residents of Las Vegas, said the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Digiovanni’s heartbroken brother Gage posted a touching tribute to his “amazing little sister” on his Facebook page, confirming that she succumbed to injuries sustained in the “horrific random stabbing”.
“It is with great sadness that we say goodbye and see you later to my amazing little sister. Maris was a victim of the horrific random stabbing of 8 people in Las Vegas today,” he said.
“Please pray for our family and her husband. We appreciate the space to grieve in the coming days and know she touched your lives as she did ours.”
Digiovanni previously worked as a teacher in Bahrain and Hong Kong, before moving to Las Vegas where she taught at 9th Bridge School.
One of her friends also left a touching tribute on social media, describing the 30-year-old as the “most kindest beautiful soul”.
“Absolutely shocked, devastated and heart broken. The most kindest beautiful soul taken way to young, this is so unfair and should never of happened - I can’t wrap my head around any of it,” wrote Emma Leeson.
“Thank you for all the incredibly fun amazing spontaneous memories and adventures we got to share together.”
Police were called to reports of a stabbing with multiple victims in front of a casino in the 3100 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard at around 11.42am on Thursday, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
A witness who said the injured showgirls work for her told 13 Action News that Barrios had approached the group of performers on the sidewalk, telling them he was a chef and that he wanted to take a photo with them.
When they declined, he allegedly launched into his stabbing attack with a kitchen knife.
After the initial stabbing attack, police said the suspect continued along the strip, plunging his knife into more victims along the sidewalk.
“It appears unprovoked. There is no altercation beforehand,” Police Deputy Chief James LaRochelle said in a press conference on Thursday.
“That stabbing occurs quickly, and then the suspect subsequently goes southbound on the sidewalk area and stabs additional victims.”
One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene while others were rushed to area hospitals, where a second victim died.
A group of concerned citizens followed the alleged attacker until law enforcement officers and a local security guard arrived, taking Mr Barrios into custody in front of the popular Venetian and Palazzo hotel-casinos.
Witnesses described seeing the suspect with a significant amount of blood “on his sleeves”.
A large kitchen knife used in the attack was recovered from the scene, police said.
Three of the six surviving victims remain in a critical condition, while the others are stable.
Their identities have not been released with officials saying that they are a mix of tourists and locals.
Bystander Pierre Fandrich told 13 Action News that he was walking along the strip when he heard what he initially thought was “three or four showgirls laughing”.
He quickly realised that the laughter was in fact screaming when he saw “a lot of blood”.
Mr Fandrich said he initially thought a woman “fell from the bridge because there was a lot of blood on the ground”.
One woman was lying on the ground while another – who also had a large stab wound in her back – was trying to help her. The woman and another passer-by performed CPR on the victim lying down until emergency responders arrived on the scene, he said.
He saw another woman running across the bridge trying to flee the chaos.
Mr Fandrich said that “everything happened so fast” and so he didn’t see the suspect.
Another witness, who was visiting Sin City from Los Angeles, told the outlet that they saw a victim with stab wounds lying on the ground near the shops in the the Fashion Mall.
The public was urged to stay away from the area in the immediate aftermath.
Police say there’s no further danger to the public and they are not seeking any other suspects.