A teenager was killed and four people were seriously injured after being stabbed on a tube Saturday in a busy river in Wisconsin, authorities said.
The Sheriff of St. Croix’s Scott Knudson described the scene as “chaotic” and “heartbreaking.”
“I’m sure anyone who witnessed it will never forget it,” he told reporters during a news conference on Saturday. “It’s a tragedy.”
Five people were stabbed with a knife while tubing in the Apple River in Somerset Saturday afternoon, the sheriff said.
A 17-year-old boy from Minnesota was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Knudson said.
The other four victims were believed to have critical injuries, he said. Two victims were airlifted out of the hard-to-reach area by helicopter and several ambulances responded.
The surviving victims included a woman and three men, all in their 20s, the sheriff said.
A suspect had fled the scene but was taken into custody without incident, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff said he was a 52-year-old man from Minnesota. A bystander snapped a photo of him, which helped authorities locate him, he said.
Authorities were searching the area for the knife used in the attack and interviewing “a number of witnesses,” Knudson said.
“We’re actually in the process of trying to divert some of the tube traffic around the crime scene,” he said. “That alone is causing some challenges in trying to get them out of the river and gather what we can in a hard-to-reach area.
It’s unclear what prompted the attack, Knudson said.
There is no further threat to the public, the sheriff’s office said.
Somerset is located near the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota, about 35 miles east of Minneapolis.
The Apple River is a popular destination for tubing and camping.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
