Rockford, Illinois man recounts distracting attacker who is now accused of killing 4, injuring 7
ROCKFORD, Ill. (CBS) -- A Rockford man had a harrowing experience this week as he tried to distract an attacker – to keep his granddaughter who was in the house with him safe, and to try to stop the attacker from killing his longtime mail carrier.
Craig Garr has lived in the same Rockford home for 45 years. He witnessed a man police have identified as Christian Ivan Soto stabbing his mail carrier, 49-year-old Jay Larson.
Prosecutors said after stabbing Larson, Soto ran him over with a pickup truck.
Larson was one of four people police said Soto murdered on Wednesday.
Garr said he was working on his computer when he heard a noise that sounded like a garbage truck. The garbage truck was not expected on Thursday – as garbage day is Tuesday for his area – so Garr went out to find out what was going on.
He found someone brutally attacking his mailman.
"I said, 'What are you doing?' You know, I startled him, and he said, 'He stole money from me,'" Garr said. "I just shook my head. I said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' And he acted very delusional, like he's on drugs. Kind of glassy eyes and everything, you know, he's out of his mind."
Garr said he would have used a means of defense if he'd had it.
"Well once I saw the knives, I didn't have a gun. If I had a gun, I'd have probably did something about it. But I just wanted to protect my granddaughter, because my granddaughter was upstairs, you know?" Garr said. "And he tried to get in the house. When he saw me on the phone, because I was calling 911, he got up, he stood up, and he darted towards my front door – and I closed the door and put the deadbolt on, so he couldn't get in."
Garr said he felt like there was nothing he could do for the mailman, Larson, and all he could do was try to protect himself and his granddaughter.
Following the attack, Garr's porch was a gruesome horror of a scene.
"There was blood everywhere. If you'd have came here an hour ago before the fire trucks cleaned up, my car was still there all bashed in – and then there was blood everywhere in the driveway, on the porch, everywhere," Garr said. "My granddaughter's car was sitting behind mine, almost out by the curb, and blood splatter was on her roof. And the mailman was right up to the front of my porch, laying on the ground."
Garr said Larson had been his postal carrier for eight or nine years.
"He'd always stop to talk to you," Garr said. "I mean, he'd stop out there and talk to me for 20 minutes. He always carried dog bones in his pocket, so he'd give doggie treats to the dogs. He was just a nice guy."
Authorities said Soto first went to the home of his longtime friend Jacob Schupbach, 23, to smoke marijuana. Soto later claimed the weed was laced with an unknown narcotic, as he recounted some details of the stabbings.
Soto's friend Schupbach was one of his first two victims, along with Schupbach's mother, Ramona Schupbach, 63. He then fatally stabbed Larson, authorities said.
Soto allegedly continued to break into multiple homes – where prosecutors said he attacked three teenage girls with a bat as they watched a movie. One of them, 15-year-old Jenna Newcomb, was killed.
"Jenna's mom wants the community to know that Jenna died after saving her sister and her friend, and protecting them from further harm," Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara.
Soto was taken into custody after he stabbed his final two victims – one of them a Good Samaritan who was trying to help. A first responder was also among the surviving victims.
Seven people were injured during the stabbing rampage.
"More than ever, people who were affected by this horrific event need to see people linking arms," said Mayor McNamara.
Garr said he has never seen such a horror in the 45 years he has lived in his house.
"It's getting worse the last couple years. You never think it's going to happen to you – and when it does, it's terrible, you know?" he said. "And I just hope that it never happens again. This is bad. This was the worst thing I ever saw living here."
Prosecutors said the families and people of Rockford might never know Soto's motive. He was ordered detained.