Four people were killed, while seven others were injured, in the attack across “multiple scenes” at around 1.15pm on Wednesday.
Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said her department received multiple calls and that when officers arrived, they found three victims deceased, while another was declared dead on arrival in the hospital.
Those killed were a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man and a 22-year-old man.
One of the others in the hospital was in critical condition as of 4.15pm local time.
“We have a suspect in custody who is being interviewed at this time,” Chief Redd said, adding that they did not have any other suspects currently.
The suspect is a 22-year-old male, with no other details given Wednesday afternoon.
Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana told reporters that they were dealing with various addresses in the area.
One victim had multiple stab wounds to her hands and face, the Sheriff said, adding that a Good Samaritan who came to help her had also required medical treatment.
It was reported one of the victims was a mail carrier.
UPDATE: An adult male attacked and stabbed multiple individuals in the area of Cleveland/Holmes/Eggleston. The alleged suspect is in custody. Further updates will be posted here.
— RockfordILPolice (@RockfordPD) March 27, 2024
In a statement released to My Stateline, Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said city leadership was shocked by the “horrific act of violence.”
“We can report that the suspect is in custody and the threat has been neutralized,” Mayor McNamara said. “Now that he is in custody, our primary concern is ensuring that our community members directly impacted by this violence are supported throughout their healing and recovery.
“We have multiple jurisdictions working on multiple crime scenes to develop an understanding of what transpired in an effort to prevent this from happening again. We will continue to provide updates,” the mayor said.
Rockford is a city around 80 miles north-west of Chicago.