Suspect in Custody After 2 Park Rangers Stabbed in Boston Common

Boston Police say the suspect, a homeless man, is in custody

A suspect is in custody after two park rangers were stabbed inside Boston Common, the nation's oldest park, late Tuesday afternoon, Boston Police confirmed.

One of the rangers, a 46-year-old sergeant with 20 years on the force, was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with life-threatening injuries for stab wounds to the abdomen, and the other ranger, a 23 year old who just joined the force, was taken to Tufts Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries and was in stable condition, according to police.

The sergeant got out of surgery at about 7:30 Tuesday night and is in serious, but stable condition.

The ranger who went to Tufts is expected to be released Wednesday.

Thirty-four-year-old Bodio Hutchinson, a homeless man with several warrants for his arrest, including drugs and assault on a police officer, is in custody for the stabbing, police said. Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said Hutchinson lunged at the park rangers when they approached him, stabbing them multiple times.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the park rangers, who do not carry firearms, have had issues with homelessness in the past. Walsh said two to four rangers patrol the Common and Public Garden at any given time.

"We'll go back and talk with the rangers and see what they need for more equipment and increase in park rangers so we make sure the park system is safe," Walsh said.

Commissioner Evans said both of the park rangers were talking when they were taken to their hospitals. Authorities say the knife used in the attack was found in the Public Garden Pond.

There were many witnesses to the late afternoon attack.

"I saw him run, a shadowy figure, booking it as fast as he could down to the Gardens," Jackson Marchant, who saw the stabbing victims, said.

"I was just watching the ducks, and this guy ran and he was being chased by two cops, I think. And then he stopped and said, like, 'Shoot me, shoot me,' and then they kind of tackled him to the ground," Nick Rusk, who saw the arrest, said.

Hutchinson faces several charges, including two counts of attempted murder.

Stay with NECN as this story develops. 

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