3 dead in stabbing rampage

A man fatally stabbed dead two women and a man at a residence in San Antonio yesterday morning. The suspect later died after a responding police officer shot him. The police officer was also injured.

The bloody incident, which occurred at a one-story house located behind the Seventh-Day Adventist School, is the first triple homicide in the CNMI, according to Maj. Edward H. Manalili, chief of the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Bureau.

Manalili said the three victims, all Asians, sustained multiple stab wounds.

Manalili said, the suspect, also an Asian, was pronounced dead at the Commonwealth Health Center at 3:40pm yesterday.

The police officer sustained a stab wound and a laceration in the elbow and rib area. He was treated at CHC.

The CIB chief said preliminary investigation showed that at about 10:45am, police were notified of a disturbance at a residence behind the Seventh-Day Adventist School.

A traffic officer, who was in the vicinity conducting public education training for the students, heard the commotion and responded to the house.

The officer then saw the lifeless body of a man on the ground at the entrance of the house.

The officer heard a commotion inside the house so he cautiously entered and saw the suspect waving at him to come in.

As he approached, the suspect suddenly attacked him with a knife. The officer fired his .9 mm. pistol, hitting the suspect.

Further search of the house revealed another lifeless body of a woman and a second woman, who was rushed to CHC where she was pronounced dead.

The suspect and the officer were also transported to the hospital.

Manalili said detectives are currently verifying the identities of the victims and the suspect and are looking into the motive behind the incident.

DPS did not name the police officer but sources said it was police officer Val Hocog.

Some residents in the area said the victims are Koreans, including one who worked at a fashion store at the Sablan Building located in front of the Seventh-Day Adventist School.

DPS detectives immediately cordoned the vicinity of the crime scene, while crime scene technicians preserved the evidence. At 2:15pm, police lifted the third dead body from the house and transported it to CHC.

A double homicide happened in March 1995, in which the bodies of an Asian couple who owned a store in Dandan Homestead were found in separate areas in Kagman. The case remains unsolved.