Police continue to investigate, but are saying little about a home invasion and stabbing in eastern St. Albert on Wednesday.
A husband and wife told St. Albert RCMP they were awakened that morning in their Woodlands home by a large man who stabbed both of them before fleeing.
Sgt. Jack Poitras, a spokesman for Alberta RCMP, said that as of Friday morning police were still in the process of investigating and examining the crime scene, which includes taking DNA samples to analyze – a process that could take weeks.
“Unlike CSI, that takes a bit of time for us to get,” he said. “I can’t say anything because of that.”
He said it’s still unclear whether anything was taken from the home, or whether the husband and wife had any connection to the man who stabbed them.
“We still don’t know if this was isolated or targeted,” Poitras said.
RCMP issued a media release Wednesday morning stating that at around 4 a.m., St. Albert police responded to a call for assistance and found a husband and wife both suffering from stab wounds.
They both told police they woke up and saw a large man who stabbed them then fled the home. They were both taken to hospital and are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Poitras described this type of incident as “very unusual,” and said the investigation is still in the very early stages.
“It’s really, really early to tell what may have contributed to this,” he said. “At this point it’s too early to tell if it was completely by chance.”
Police aren’t releasing the names of the couple, or saying more specifically where the attack took place as the location may identify them, but said there’s no indication they were involved in anything criminal.
“The couple who were stabbed were not known to police,” Poitras said. “It’s a really strange set of circumstances.”
The man is described as being large in stature, and police say he may have fled the scene in a vehicle. Interviews with the victims had not yet been conducted by noon today as the couple is still in hospital.
“Foremost for us is public safety, so we’ll deal with that then get information from them after,” he said.
Poitras said it’s still unknown if anything was stolen from the home or what kind of implement was used – just that it was an edged weapon.
Anyone with information is asked to phone the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 or report information anonymously to 1-800-222-8477.
