Residents remain shaken by stabbing rampage

A 27 year old man who witnesses say went on a stabbing rampage Saturday is recovering in hospital tonight after he broke his ankle during a police chase. Four people and a dog were stabbed at an east Hamilton apartment building, and tonight they’re trying to cope with the nightmare of what happened.

Witnesses say the attacker is Kevin Richards. He moved here recently with his roommate so not many people here know much about him.

Richards has not been formally charged by Hamilton Police. And because he was hurt in the police chase and arrest, the province’s Special Investigations Unit is now involved.

In a YouTube video, you can see 60 year old Elaine Barker covered in blood but only hear her son Chris as they speak to police Saturday night.

Chris Barker: “He tried to kill me.”
Elaine Barker: “We don’t even know this person.”
Police: “Not at all?”
Elaine: “No!!”
Police: “You’ve never seen him before?”
Elaine: “No!”

Right after the Barkers were attacked by a man with a large knife, Christine Meuse, who didn’t want to talk about it and her husband Jamie were also stabbed inside their apartment by a man they did not know.

“It’s like the words weren’t registering. He was looking past me not at me. He definitely looked disturbed.”

Frankie, Jamie’s pug was also stabbed.

It began at apartment 1212 where Mohammed Tabrak told the superintendent he was attacked by his roommate Kevin Richards. “I don’t want to talk about it, any of it.”

Management here at 221 Melvin Avenue have posted a note offering sympathies to tenants affected by Saturday’s events. A victim services officer is now available to people who wish to talk about it.

20 year tenant Cathy Payne: “As long as we have cameras in the building, as a 60 year old woman I’m quite happy living here.”

The Special Investigations Unit is looking at how Hamilton Police captured the man who was holding a knife. Witnesses say he was tasered and shot at with rubber bullets. The SIU is investigating whether Richards was high on drugs, drunk, or mentally ill.

Staff at the apartment couldn’t say anything about his state of mind as they cleaned up blood that had splattered on the door and floor.

The SIU says it’ll likely take a month or so to find out why this stabbing happened and if police used appropriate force to arrest Richards. Some tenants CHCH News spoke with hope Richards will not be allowed to come back here to live.