Police seek suspect in multiple stabbings

The Oshkosh Police Department is investigating a pair of stabbings that occurred late Friday night near the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus.

As of Saturday afternoon, police still were searching for a suspect whom they called a "lone, white male suspect described as 5-feet, 9-inches tall to 6-feet tall, weighing approximately 250 pounds with a buzz haircut and wearing dark, baggy clothing," Oshkosh Police Sgt. Dave Gomoll said.

At about 11 p.m. Friday, authorities responded to a 911 call about a robbery involving two male victims walking in the 400 block of West Lincoln Avenue, according to a Police Department news release. The suspect confronted the first victim and forcibly took his cellphone. In the ensuing struggle, the suspect stabbed the man.

The second victim chased the suspect into the 700 block of Wright Street, where another struggle ensued, and the second victim was stabbed. The suspect then fled on foot, according to the report and has not yet been identified or apprehended.

Both victims were transported to a local hospital with serious injuries and now are recuperating, according to a statement from the university.

"We are concerned by the recent, uncharacteristic rash of crime and violence in a neighborhood east of the university," Interim Chancellor Petra Roter said in the statement, encouraging anyone who is "out late at night to travel in groups and stay in well-lit areas.

"Ensuring that UW Oshkosh is a safe place to study, work and live is our most important responsibility," Roter said. "We care about one another here, and we take the obligation to individually and collectively preserve a safe campus community very seriously."

The university alerted students via Titan Alert text and email messages and said to avoid the area. At about 11:30 p.m. Friday, the streets were blocked off at the intersections at the 700 block of Jackson Street.

At about 9 a.m. Saturday, officers were searching yards in the area with a K-9 unit, as some residents asked about the events the night before.

Kasey Langeberg, 24, who lives on Wright Street, said it had been a calm night, and she did not hear or see anything going on outside her house until her dog began growling from the presence of the many police cars and officers on the street.

Langeberg said she's used to hearing parties and people walking about the neighborhood but not violence.

"This stuff shouldn't be happening around a college area," she said. "We can deal with partying... but yeah, (the incident) makes me fearful."

Authorities had blocked off driveways and porches the night before, asking residents to stay inside their houses. Andy Disterhaft, 31, who lives at the same residence as Langeberg, said officers escorted him inside when he got home.

"They were searching everywhere," Disterhaft said. "Under the stairs, behind every house."

Bill Blake, a 22-year-old UWO student living on Wright Street, said he and his friends were having a night in at his house because they had a rugby game this morning. They saw numerous Oshkosh Police Department cars on their block and went outside to ask what had happened.

"Down at the corner (of Wright and West Lincoln) there were like five (squad cars), there were some over there in that corner," he said, pointing to an intersection at Irving and Wright Streets. "And we were like what the heck happened?"

At a certain point officers began taping off the block, he said.

"They said, 'We just taped off your house,' because the suspect was seen like walking through our yard," Blake said. "And he was like, 'Can you just stay in your house?' So that's what we did."

Blake said he'd already seen numerous posts on social media of people who were fearing for the safety of the neighborhood. Thursday night a robbery occurred near the same area, just one street over at the 700 block of Wisconsin Street. The suspect was described as the same height as the suspect in the stabbings, though authorities have not confirmed whether or not it is the same suspect.

Authorities are investigating whether the incident may be connected with other recent robberies that have occurred in the UW-Oshkosh area.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the Oshkosh Police Department at (920) 236-5700 or contact the Winnebago County Wide Crime Stoppers by calling (920) 231-8477 or by texting "IGOTYA" and a tip to 274637 or submitting a tip online at www.winnebagocrimestoppers.org.