Suspect in Massachusetts AMC stabbing was ‘laughing the whole time’ during unprovoked attack, victim’s mother says

BRAINTREE – The suspect who allegedly stabbed four young girls in an AMC cinema in Massachusetts On Saturday evening, “we laughed the whole time,” said the mother of three victims.

Four girls, ages 9 to 17, were stabbed at the Braintree AMC movie theater around 6 p.m. Saturday. They were all taken to hospital but are expected to survive.

Suspect was “laughing the whole time”

Lisa Dembowski is the mother of three of the girls who were stabbed. She was not present at the time of the incident but said the group had just arrived at a screening of “IF” and the girls were the only four people in the theater.

“They had just sat down and got their drinks. I guess he came up from behind them, they were sitting in the second row. He came up from behind them. My oldest leaned over to get something, he hit her from behind. My other daughter in the chest. My youngest daughter across the arm,” Dembowski said. “They were laughing the whole time. Then he stabbed her friend and ran away. The two older girls chased him outside, then they realized what was going on.”

An employee described the suspect as wearing “an oversized trench coat, sunglasses and a long blonde wig.” Police said the suspect fled the theater in a black SUV, but video footage allowed investigators to determine a license plate number.

Second stabbing in Plymouth

A second attack was reported at a McDonald’s at a Plymouth rest stop around 7pm on Saturday. A 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man were taken to hospital with stab wounds but are both expected to survive. Police said it appeared the incidents were related.

Massachusetts State Police pursued the SUV until it crashed in Sandwich and a suspect was arrested. According to the WBZ-TV I-Team, the suspect is believed to be connected to a murder in Deep River, Connecticut.

Police have not released the name of the suspect or the crimes he is accused of.

“A pretty sick individual who harms children”

Dembowski said the children were traumatized by the incident.

“They never want to go to the movies again,” she said. “They’re upset. Physically they’re fine. Kids are resilient. But I think they’re terrified that something like this could just happen to them if they go to the movies on a Saturday night. Someone could just walk into a movie theater and someone could do something like this.”

Dembowski praised the actions of first responders and medical staff. She also said her eldest daughter acted quickly to calm the younger girls in a hectic situation.

“This is happening more and more and it makes parents sick to take their kids anywhere or let them go anywhere without them. I absolutely feel that way,” said Dembowski, who works as a guidance counselor at a Massachusetts school. “I hope he gets what he deserves. I understand mental health. I’m a counselor. I understand that. I think it’s a pretty sick person who is harming children.”