Man in custody after stabbings at Massachusetts theater, McDonald’s; possible connection to CT death

A man was taken into custody after six people, including four girls at a movie theater, were stabbed in separate attacks that may be connected, as Connecticut police linked a Massachusetts arrest to a death investigation.

Police said a man came into the AMC Braintree 10 south of Boston at about 6 p.m. Saturday and entered one of the theaters without paying, where he stabbed the girls who are ages 9 to 17.

The girls were inside the theater when the man, unprovoked, suddenly attacked them “without saying anything and without any warning” and then ran out, the Braintree Police Department said in a news release. The four suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and were taken to hospitals.

Video footage showed the man’s black SUV and a license plate, and the information was broadcast to law enforcement, police said.

A vehicle matching that description was later seen in Plymouth, about 27 miles south of Braintree. Police said it had left a McDonald’s restaurant located at the Route 3 rest area, where a 21-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man were found stabbed around 7:04 p.m. The two McDonald’s employees were taken to hospitals with injuries.

The office of Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said police identified the attacker in Plymouth as Jared Ravizza, 26, of Chilmark, Massachusetts. The car was determined to be a 2018 Porsche Macan.

Surveillance video showed Ravizza allegedly reaching through the drive-thru window and stabbing the man with a large knife, officials said. He then allegedly drove around the drive-thru, parked the car, went inside and stabbed the second victim.

Officials did not immediately confirm if Ravizza was the reported stabber at the Braintree AMC.

Massachusetts troopers then tracked the car another 20 miles south, in Sandwich, and attempted to pull it over, but Ravizza continued to drive before crashing and ultimately being arrested by state and local police, officials reported.

Ravizza was transported to South Shore Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.  He faces charges of assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and is scheduled to be arraigned at Plymouth District Court on Tuesday.

In the meantime, state police in Connecticut were investigating a death in Deep River. Police said Sunday that a suspect connected to that death had been arrested in Massachusetts.

The Connecticut State Police said a person was found dead in Deep River after reports of a disturbance Saturday afternoon.

State troopers from Westbrook responded to reports of a disturbance at 3:36 p.m. on Saturday and found the person dead at the address to which they were called. The person who died had not yet been identified, according to state police.

Connecticut State Police said a suspect in the investigation was taken into custody in Massachusetts, but no further information was available as of Sunday.

A spokesperson for Connecticut State Police did not confirm whether the incidents were linked, but said state police continue to “remain in communication with the investigators.”

Massachusetts State Police and the Braintree Police Department did not immediately return requests for comment.

Information from Hartford Courant reporter Taylor Hartz, Boston Herald reporter Rob Pelaez and The Associated Press were used in this report.