SEATTLE– A man has been arrested in connection with a series of random stabbings that occurred over two days in Seattle and injured nine people, five of whom occurred Friday afternoon, police said.

“This incident was apparently a case of one individual carrying out random attacks over the course of 38 hours,” Deputy Chief Eric Barden said at the scene Friday.

The Friday afternoon stabbings took place within a roughly four-block area in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District.

Witnesses provided a description of the suspect, and officers found him nearby and took him into custody, police said. Police said the arrested man had a gun with him and one of the victims was stabbed with a knife.

Four of the victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and one victim was treated and released at the scene. A Harborview spokesman confirmed the four victims were in hospital and said they were all in critical condition. The spokesman said that as of Friday evening, two of them remained in critical condition, one was in serious condition and the other was in satisfactory condition.

Police suspect the man arrested in connection with Friday’s stabbings is the same person involved in at least four other stabbings that occurred early Thursday, Barden said. He cited similar suspect descriptions and the randomness of the attacks, but added that the investigation was ongoing.

The stabbings in Chinatown on Thursday began when a 52-year-old woman was found with multiple stab wounds, police said. Police said a 32-year-old man was found Thursday afternoon after being stabbed multiple times, and around 8 p.m., a 37-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the back.

Then, early Friday, police responding to an assault call found a 53-year-old man bleeding heavily from a neck injury. Police followed a trail of blood to a nearby doorway and used it as a starting point for police dogs to track a suspect, but were unsuccessful.

“From what I understand, everyone is alive,” Barden said of the victims Friday afternoon.

The 10th stabbing Thursday night involved a cellphone robbery in which someone forced open a vehicle door and tried to stab a 60-year-old man in the chest, police said. Police said the victim blocked the attack and had his hand cut off. Police said it was unclear whether the incident was linked to random attacks.