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Suspect arrested after knife attacks on six people, including four girls. Massachusetts police say there is likely a connection

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By Celina Tebor, Paradise Afshar, Samantha Beech and Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN

(CNN) — A suspect was arrested Saturday after six people – including four girls between the ages of 9 and 17 – were stabbed in separate attacks. Massachusetts authorities say the two attacks are likely related.

The girls, who were attacked in a movie theater, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to Boston hospitals for treatment, Braintree police said. About an hour later, a 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man were stabbed in a McDonald’s in Plymouth and taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

One of the suspects in the McDonald’s stabbings, Jared Ravizza, was arrested 15 minutes after fleeing the scene Saturday night. He faces multiple assault charges, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Ravizza, 26, is the suspect in “multiple stabbings on the South Shore,” prosecutors said, but no details were released about the other incidents. Braintree police said it “appears” the attacks at the movie theater and McDonald’s, which occurred about an hour apart, are related.

The stabbing attack on the four girls at the AMC occurred around 6 p.m. in Braintree. The theater was cordoned off shortly after the incident, an AMC employee told CNN.

“Without saying anything and without warning, he suddenly attacked the four young women and stabbed them,” police said of the suspect. “The attack appeared to be unprovoked. After the attack, the man ran out of the cinema and drove away in a vehicle.”

Police determined the suspect left the theater in what appeared to be a black SUV, and video footage allowed authorities to capture the license plate, the news release said. A vehicle matching the description was “allegedly involved in a similar robbery in Plymouth,” which is about a 30-minute drive south of Braintree, police said.

According to prosecutors, Ravizza allegedly arrived at the scene of the stabbings at the McDonald’s in Plymouth in a black Porsche Macan SUV. Police were called to the scene around 7 p.m., about an hour after the AMC attack in Braintree, prosecutors said.

Surveillance footage from the McDonald’s appears to show Ravizza reaching through the drive-thru window and stabbing the male victim with a large knife, prosecutors allege. The video then shows the suspect parking his car, entering the restaurant and stabbing the female victim before fleeing in the car, prosecutors say.

Within minutes, officers found the suspect’s car, but when they tried to stop it, it did not stop. Police pursued the vehicle. which crashed in Sandwich, about 25 minutes south of Plymouth, according to police.

“Preliminary investigation indicates a likely connection to a previous incident at a Braintree movie theater in which four juveniles sustained non-life-threatening injuries,” state police said.

Ravizza was treated in a hospital on Sunday for non-life-threatening injuries, prosecutors said.

Ravizza faces several charges in connection with the stabbings at McDonald’s, including assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

CNN was unable to locate an attorney for Ravizza, but has requested additional information from the Massachusetts State Police, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and the Braintree Police Department.

The Massachusetts State Police investigation is still ongoing.

Separately, Connecticut State Police said a suspect had been arrested in connection with a death in the Massachusetts town of Deep River. Police in neither state have confirmed whether the Connecticut case is connected to the Massachusetts cases.

In a statement released late Saturday, Connecticut State Police said they responded to a “disturbance” at an address in the city on Saturday afternoon. There, police found a “dead person” whose identity has not yet been confirmed, Connecticut State Police said.

“A suspect in this investigation has been taken into custody in the state of Massachusetts and there is no active threat to the public,” the press release said. The suspect’s name was not disclosed.

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