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A suburb outside Boston remains on edge after a series of serial attacks left nearly a dozen men pummeled on the head, as police “dramatically ramped up” patrols and offered Tuesday a reward of $ 5,000 for information to determine who could be responsible.
“There is definitely a fear factor in our city right now. We’ve never experienced anything like this, ”said Waltham Police Detective Sgt. Steve McCarthy told reporters Tuesday.
“I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t lose sleep at night, you know, when I walk into work. It’s a horrible situation,” McCarthy continued. “But I’m very confident that we’re going to work through this and we’re going to find the people, or the people, who are responsible for this.
MASSACHUSETTS POLICE LOOKING FOR SUSPECT IN A STRING OF 10 RANDOM AND UNPROVILED STREET ATTACKS
The series of seemingly random attacks began on November 10 at the Gardencrest apartment complex in Waltham, a Massachusetts suburb of about 60,000 people about 11 miles west of Boston, but spread to the center. -city. The victims were all men who walked alone, but they are between 20 and 40 years old and are of various ethnic origins, Police Chief Keith MacPherson said.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, Emerson Antonio Aroche Paz described how he was hit twice in the head around 10 p.m. on November 25. He said he wiped the blood from his face to see his attacker, but the person ran away. He called 911 and went to the hospital.
“My nose broke. Part of my head is cracked, ”said Aroche Paz. “But my brain is fine.”
“My God, we are scared,” Amos Frederick, 37, a Waltham resident, told The Associated Press on Wednesday as he walked through the complex. “We all stay inside except during the day. If someone is just heading for their car, we watch out for them.”
MacPherson said police were examining “a few people of interest,” but investigators cannot yet confirm whether one or more suspects may be responsible for the attacks.
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Police released two clips on Saturday from security camera footage showing a person in a dark hoodie tightly wrapped around their face running and walking on a street. Authorities are offering a reward of $ 5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
The person (s) responsible for the attacks appear to be “on the prowl,” intentionally selecting victims who are distracted, before approaching their target from behind, hitting them on the head with some sort of blunt force object, MacPherson said.
Several victims were hit so hard that they were thrown to the ground. Some had to be hospitalized for serious injuries, including orbital facial fractures, a broken nose and facial lacerations, MacPherson said.
A victim was walking a dog. One was getting into a vehicle. An American postman was attacked while door-to-door. The last attack happened the day after Thanksgiving.
“The motive is somewhat in question, but it appears to be a thrill of the assault, or someone who is very violent and likes to see someone hurt by it,” MacPherson said Tuesday. “There has never been a theft. It has always been an assault and the assailant takes off.
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In response to the attacks, police have stepped up their patrols with uniformed and plainclothes officers and are also using drones for aerial surveillance. Waltham Police have consulted with Boston Police to determine if the attacks may have been some sort of gang initiation, but this does not appear to be the case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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