Violent Crime and Public Safety

Redmond, Washington police are searching for a knife‑wielding man after a 50‑year‑old woman was critically wounded in what investigators believe was a random stabbing on Bear Creek Trail late Saturday morning near the Redmond Town Center shopping area. Police Chief Darrell Lowe said officers arrived within two minutes of a 10:45 a.m. 911 call reporting a woman down on the popular recreational path and found her with multiple stab wounds; she was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and told officers she did not know her attacker. A witness who saw a possible suspect fleeing provided a description of a slim man about 5‑foot‑9, possibly Hispanic, white or Asian, wearing a green hoodie or jacket, blue jeans and a black beanie, and police are urging the public not to approach anyone matching that description but to call 911. The apparent randomness of the daytime attack on a well‑used trail in a generally affluent suburb that includes Microsoft’s headquarters has rattled residents, with some telling local media they are reconsidering routine walks in the area until the suspect is caught. Authorities have stepped up patrols and are warning that the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous as the investigation and manhunt continue.

A violent repeat offender has been charged with murder after a Raleigh teacher was fatally shot while on a 911 call, with the emergency call reportedly capturing her final moments. Separately, a man in North Carolina pleaded guilty in a separate shooting that left five people dead, including his brother and a police officer.

DeLand, Florida police arrested 36-year-old Christopher Steven Schwable on Tuesday after witnesses say he grabbed a middle-school boy by the throat at a school bus stop and then pulled a folding knife on adults who intervened. An adult motorist who saw the alleged choking made a U‑turn, grabbed a toolbox from his truck, and struck Schwable twice after Schwable reportedly produced the knife, then restrained him on the ground until officers arrived and recovered the weapon. The seventh grader, a Southwestern Middle School student, suffered a cut finger and was described by police as visibly distraught, while Schwable was treated for a head wound before being booked on aggravated child abuse and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and held on $5,000 bond. Court records show Schwable, currently homeless, had been released from jail on Jan. 13 after prosecutors dropped separate indecent-exposure and drug-paraphernalia charges, meaning the bus-stop attack came just days after his release. The case underscores recurring public concerns about repeat offenders and the risks children face at otherwise routine locations like neighborhood bus stops.

Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, who lived next door to the rental, was charged with three counts of premeditated murder and resisting arrest after deputies found him in his home about an hour following a random, "senseless" shooting that killed three tourists minutes from Disney's Magic Kingdom; he is being held without bond. Bojeh had a 2021 not‑guilty‑by‑reason‑of‑insanity verdict in an attempted first‑degree murder with a firearm and aggravated battery case and has prior arrests for felony drug possession and misdemeanor resisting an officer, prompting Sheriff Christopher Blackmon to call him a "frequent flyer" and Attorney General James Uthmeier to fault a suspended state attorney for not contesting the insanity defense.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer against Aristides Eli Orellana-Ramirez, an El Salvadoran national who DHS says entered the U.S. illegally and is now charged with murdering 16-year-old Bravlio Galeano Ayala and 18-year-old Samir Canales Molina in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say gunfire erupted around 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2025 in southwest Charlotte and that the two teens, whose bodies were later found more than six miles apart, are believed to have been shot at the same location before trying to flee for help. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the case 'another tragic loss of life at the hands of a criminal illegal alien' and tied it to what the department calls 'sanctuary' policies, noting that North Carolina authorities have declined to honor nearly 1,400 ICE detainers in recent years. The detainer and arrest are being highlighted as part of 'Operation Charlotte’s Web,' a Trump administration surge of federal agents into Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas aimed at rounding up 'high-threat' unauthorized immigrants with violent criminal histories, a campaign that local officials have vowed to resist. The case is already fueling partisan battles over whether refusing ICE access to jails and detainers increases or reduces public safety in major U.S. cities.