Accused Serial Stabber Arrested In Atlanta

ATLANTA — A suspect in a string of 20 stabbings that terrorized people across three states and left five dead was arrested in front of startled passengers at an Atlanta airport gate as he tried to board a plane for Israel, officials said Thursday.

A judge in Flint, Mich., where the attacks began in late May, signed a warrant Thursday charging Elias Abuelazam, 33, with assault with intent to murder in connection with a July 27 stabbing.

PDF: Police Report On Airport Arrest

Channel 2 Action News was at the scene when the "person of interest" was apprehended at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday night.

Atlanta police said they went to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at the request of Michigan State Police and paged Abuelazam over the intercom as he waited to board Delta Air Lines flight 152 to Tel Aviv, Israel.

Passengers on the flight Abuelazam was scheduled to depart on said that he was tense and talking on his cell phone when he was arrested at the boarding gate shortly before takeoff. They said six police officers led him away without incident.

The suspect was handed over to the FBI and Atlanta police.

Abuelazam was being held in the Fulton County Jail on Thursday for the 68th District Court of Flint. Elazam should have an extradition hearing in the coming days.

Officials said Abuelazam has ties to Flint, Mich., where the attacks began May 24, and to Leesburg, the site of three similar attacks last week, Leesburg Police Officer Chris Jones said.

He is an Israeli citizen who is in the U.S. legally, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.

"While this is a key step in the investigation there are still many issues that need to be addressed before we identify this individual as the person responsible for this horrific crime spree," Jones said.

Police had been focusing their hunt on Flint -- where 16 of the stabbings took place -- until Leesburg police reported three attacks. Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, say a stabbing in that city Saturday appears to be linked to the violent spree.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a task force led by the Michigan State Police and including the FBI had received 469 tips. Those tips have been passed out to the various law enforcement teams involved in the case.

The attacks began surfacing in late spring, and picked up the pace as the stabber traversed the country.

Police have said the man's attacks usually follow a pattern: He approaches black men late at night on lonely urban roads, and asks for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then, without warning, he pulls out a knife and strikes. Then, he speeds away in his vehicle, leaving them for dead.

The brazen nature and the frequency of the attacks -- the assailant has struck an average of about once every four days since the first stabbing in May -- has terrified some of those in cities he's already targeted.

The victims have been mostly black, and police have suspected the attacks may have been racially motivated. The youngest victim was 17; the oldest was 60. They ranged in size from 5-foot-4 inches and 120 pounds to 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds.

Officials said they do not know a motive for the crimes.

WSBTV