In just over one hour, a 24-year-old suspect went on a stabbing spree in California, according to reporting by the Post Millennial.
The suspect allegedly went on a destructive rampage in Ventura County, targeting employees at a local Walmart and students at a high school.
Officials with the Ventura County Sheriffs Office and Simi Valley Police Department say that Austin Eis traveled more than 30 miles to three different locations on Tuesday to cause all the chaos that left behind death and destruction in his wake.
Cmdr. Ritchie Lew, a spokesperson for the Simi Valley police, says that Eis began the rampage at a Simi Valley Walmart. He allegedly pepper-sprayed a male employee without provocation and stabbed that same individual repeatedly.
The Post Millennial reports that Eis next move was to assault a female employee at that same Walmart and try to drag her away. Other employees jumped in to protect their co-workers, and they were allegedly stabbed during their interaction with Eis. Both Walmart employees were taken to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries. Both were said to be in stable condition.
Ventura County Sheriffs spokesperson Deputy Wendell Campbell said that about 40 minutes after the Walmart incident, the suspect went to his family home and threatened people with a knife and a gun that he brandished.
Roughly 20 minutes after that, Eis went to Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks (a high school he graduated from) and plowed his vehicle into a group of teenagers. Wesley Welling, 15, was taken to a hospital because of his injuries, but he did not survive.
Several other teenagers hit by the vehicle were also taken to the hospital. Two of the three other teenagers taken to the hospital were released, but the condition of the third remains unknown.
The Post Millennial reports that law enforcement officials have not determined a motive for this violent attack, but evidence indicates the crash was intentional.
The suspect was booked on seven felony counts in this incident. He graduated from Westlake High School in 2017, where he carried out part of his attack.
On Wednesday afternoon, Wesley Wellings two siblings, Hannah and Cody, visited a makeshift memorial for their brother outside the high school. Wesley's mother told reporters:
By some miracle, my daughter was standing right next to him, and it could have been both of them.
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