Several families who had fled danger and violence overseas were enjoying a three-year-old’s birthday party on Saturday night in Boise, Idaho, when the unthinkable happened: A man ran up and began chasing and stabbing the children, turning his knife on the adults who tried to intervene, the Associated Press reports. The attack happened at a low-income apartment complex that is also home to refugee families from around the world. Nine people were injured, including the birthday girl and five other children ranging in age from four to 12. The most gravely injured were clinging to life Sunday evening, said Police Chief William Bones.
“The victims are some of the newest members of our community,” Bones said. “This was an attack against those who are most vulnerable.” The chaos began shortly before 8:46 p.m. Saturday, when police received a report of a man with a knife. They arrived less than four minutes later to find victims lying in the street, in the parking lot and inside the complex. Thirty-year-old Timmy Kinner was arrested a short distance away; investigators later found a knife believed to be use in the attack in a nearby canal. Members of refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia were among the injured. Kinner, who is not a refugee, had been asked to leave the apartment complex Friday after staying there for a short time with a resident, Bones said. The motive remains under investigation. The attack resulted in the most victims in a single incident in Boise Police Department history.