Return to Transcripts main page

Breaking News

Killing Spree in Sacramento Leaves Five Dead

Aired August 20, 2001 - 16:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN breaking into our normal programming at this hour to bring you the latest details from the Sacramento area. Killings at two locations, five people are known to be dead at this point. The first killing occurred in the North Highlands community. Police were called there on a report of 911 call from a neighbor who said a woman had been stabbed. When they arrived at the scene they found the woman dead.

At the second location that they were called to separately -- joint call from the fire department -- they found two elderly people, a man and a woman, dead inside a home, a baby boy dead outside the home. A 9-year-old girl who was at the time they arrived on the scene in critical condition -- she died on the way to a local hospital.

At this point, investigators are still on the lookout for a 27- year-old man. They name him as Nikolay Soltys. They say he was last seen driving a silver Nissan Altima that was seen at both of the locations, both in North Highlands and at Rancho Cordova, around the time of the killings. They say that they are looking for him and they are concerned that anyone in the community not try to approach him because they believe that he may be armed. He may be dangerous as well.

We should also note that the investigators have had some confusion about the nature of the injuries that killed these people. There have been reports that the woman killed at the first location was stabbed, stabbing injuries as well reported to the child who died on the way to the hospital. But police were careful to say that they're not entirely clear that all the victims were victims of stab wounds. They say they're not entirely certain what the blunt-force trauma was that caused these deaths, but they do not believe that it did not involve a gun at any point.

Some witnesses as well have described to reporters at the scene, explaining that there had been screams heard, that there had been yelling, as it was described by one translator to the local reporters there, and that somebody had seen one of the young children approach the suspect, apparently thinking that he would be greeted by the suspect, but was killed by him instead. And that witnesses said that a big knife was involved, although that was not described or elaborated upon.

There has been some confusion and some communication problem with the police investigating this. There have been a number of questions about the people from that community. They have been described by the sheriff's department as being Russian immigrants. They may be Ukrainian, but in any case there has been a number of problems with language difficulty out there.

Joining us now is KXTV reporter Mark Hedlund, who's on the scene now, I believe, in Rancho Cordova -- Mark?

MARK HEDLUND, KXTV REPORTER: Yes, Rancho Cordova, which is a suburb of the city of Sacramento, California. We are at the scene of a gruesome killing spree. A total of five people now dead. An elderly couple, two children and the wife of the man who is being sought as a fugitive and believed to be responsible. He is identified as 27-year-old Nikolay Soltys. He's a recent immigrant from the Ukraine, and as of this point there is no known motive as to what may have started all this.

This morning investigators were called to a duplex in Rancho Cordova, just outside of Sacramento. When they came up to the place they found an infant lying dead outside, apparently stabbed to death. Inside, also possibly stabbed, were an elderly man and woman. They were both dead, and a 9-year-old girl. She was still alive, but just a few minutes ago was pronounced dead at the hospital.

About one hour before all this happened, there was a call about 20 miles away in the suburb by the name of North Highlands. A woman was found there stabbed to death and she is believed to be the wife of the man who is now wanted for questioning in this killing spree. Again, he is identified as 27-year-old Nikolay Soltys.

Now, there have been some problems with the investigation because of the language barrier. Many of the folks who live around here, and the family affected, are all Russian immigrants, and some of them do not have a strong command of the English language. So they are continuing their investigation as best they can and looking very hard for the suspect in this killing spree.

Once again, five people dead here in Sacramento County, California. Reporting live, I'm Mark Hedlund. Back to you.

CHEN: All right, Mark Hedlund is a reporter from KXTV joining us from the scene there in Rancho Cordova. Again, these two communities right outside Sacramento. Five people are known to be killed in this killing rampage. Police are looking for the suspect, 27-year-old Nikolay Soltys. And they are continuing their search right now. As you see, these are communities located along a highway there. They say that Nikolay Soltys was last seen driving a silver Nissan Altima, and they're advising the community to be very concerned that this person might be armed and might be very dangerous to them.

CNN is going to continue to stay on this story. We'll get the latest updates here and any information as it is warranted. We will get straight to you. Now stand by for "INSIDE POLITICS."

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com