perhaps a muzzie
http://www.capwiz.com/politicsol/webreturn/?url=http://www.ajc.com A suspected serial killer captured at the Atlanta airport had an expired Israeli passport and was about to board a plane to Tel Aviv when agents from several law enforcement agencies swooped in Wednesday, according to authorities and news accounts.
AP / Michigan State Police This image provided by the Michigan State Police shows a composite sketch of a man they say is the Flint stabbing suspect. Authorities in Atlanta arrested a man in connection with a three-state serial stabbing spree.
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Abdullah Farrah, manager of Kingwater Market in Beecher, Mich. speaks to the media after police came to see store surveillance video as part of their nvestigation into a multistate stabbing spree.
Ryan Garza, AP Abdullah Farrah, manager of Kingwater Market in Beecher, Mich. speaks to the media after police came to see store surveillance video as part of their nvestigation into a multistate stabbing spree.
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It was not clear if the man had passed through security at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport or if he was simply changing planes in Atlanta, but he had reached a boarding gate. The spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Authority told The Atlanta Journal-constitution air traffic into and out of Hartsfield-Jackson was not affected.
He was arrested without incident, according to authorities.
Law enforcement is not releasing his name but they said they had only been aware of him and suspected the stabbings were connected since early this month, 2 1/2 months after he allegedly took his first victim in Flint, Mich., on May 16.
"While this is a key step in the investigation, there are are still many issues that need to be addressed before we identify this individual as the person responsible for this horrific crime spree," the Leesburg, Va., police said in a statement.
The man has since been linked to 20 stabbings in Michigan, Ohio and Virginia, all people apparently chosen at random. Five stabbings in Michigan were fatal.
Investigators first thought there was a pattern based on the victims' race. Initially they were frail, elderly black men. But two white men and a 17-year-old have since been added to the list. Three victims were in Leesburg, Va., one was in Toledo, Ohio, and the rest were in Flint.
The most recent attack was the one in Toledo, according to a Detroit television station. In that case, a minister who had stepped outside his church to smoke was stabbed, Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton told the television station.
Survivors said the man would ask for directions or help with a broken-down car and would suddenly pull a knife, stab them and then drive away.
The suspect was located Wednesday by the Customs and Border Protection agency, which is part of Homeland Security, according to Sandy Hasegawa with the CBP. She said Michigan State Police had asked the National Targeting Center to check flight manifests and that is how he was found.
"We were asked to assist Michigan State Police in identifying this specific person," Hasegawa told WSB radio. "The information came through our Joint Terrorism Task Force. It was a real combined effort [in] the apprehension and identifying the suspect."
Authorities told the AJC that Michigan officials alerted airport authorities that the man was at Hartsfield-Jackson.
"He was definitely trying to leave on a flight from Hartsfield," APD spokesman Carlos Campos said. "We're strictly holding him for Michigan authorities."
APD said it would be releasing details about the arrest later Wednesday but they would only be speaking about his capture. All other questions were referred to Michigan authorities.
Police in Michigan said they will talk to reporters at 2 p.m. at the Flint Township Police Department.
According to Detroit television station Local 4, police had received more than 500 tips and it was one of them that directed them to a party store north of Flint. They confirmed the suspect worked there using store surveillance video.
The store manager told Local 4 the man worked there less than a month and he had not been back since Aug. 1, the Michigan station reported.
"He was friendly. He was a nice guy," manager Abdullah Farrah told Local 4.
Farrah said the man was polite to all customers and he never treated African-Americans one way and white customers another.Regular customers knew the man as "Eli," according to the Flint Journal.
Beecher resident Monica Butler told the paper he was flirtatious with female customers.
"He would always try to pick them up or get a number," she said.
Leesburg, Va., police spokesman Chris Jones told the Washington Post that the "person of interest" has a "tie" to both the Flint and Leesburg areas.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling told the Detroit Free Press that "Now, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief."
Return to ajc.com for updates.
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Topic: Suspect in serial stabbings of negros caught heading to Israel (Read 2004 times)