By Katie Leslie, Marcus K. Garner, and Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Romie Shaked was at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Wednesday night, ready to board Delta Flight 152 to Tel Aviv, when everyone was asked to wait at the gate. It was nearly 10 p.m. when the 12-year-old Israeli girl grabbed an empty seat in the terminal.
The girl, returning from a summer spent with friends in North Carolina, sat down next to Elias Abuelazam.
She noticed how the man talked on his cell phone most of the time, alternating between English and Hebrew. She watched as Abuelazam, who authorities said was on layover in Atlanta after being rerouted from Louisville, Ky., moved to a different seat, his phone pressed to his ear.
A name was announced over the intercom. Abuelazam walked calmly to the counter.
Romie and the other passengers saw four Atlanta police officers appear and arrest Abuelazam, who is suspected of committing 18 stabbings, including five homicides, in Michigan, Virginia and Ohio. Over was a manhunt that almost went international. Abuelazam was taken to a metro Atlanta jail and is facing extradition to Michigan.
Romie didn’t learn who the man was until she landed in Israel and was greeted by news crews seeking interviews.
“It’s pretty scary,” Romie said simply from her home.
Abuelazam was headed to join family members in Ramla, a town in the center of Israel. Michigan police had tipped off Atlanta authorities that he was trying to leave the country. Abuelazam’s arrest brought comfort to people whose relatives were brutally killed or wounded in the past several months.
Among them was Kareem Minor, whose brother, Arnold Minor, was stabbed to death in Michigan on Aug. 2 in what seemed a random act.
“We haven’t had the opportunity to put the puzzle together,” Minor said. “Now we can start to see what is going on. There has been no closure to this point. We want to know what motivated him and how can we be aware next time.”
Police initially thought a serial killer was targeting only frail, elderly black men, but two white men and a white teen, 17, later were added to the list. Abuelazam is suspected of attacking 14 men in Flint, Mich., three in Leesburg, Va., and one in Toledo, Ohio.
Abuelazam’s former wife, Jessica Nimitz, was reached at her home in Texas on Thursday but declined an interview request, indicating she was still trying to process the events. Later she told other news organizations that her ex-husband’s alleged actions had surprised her.
Survivors collectively said the attacker asked for directions or help with a broken-down car and then pulled a knife, stabbed them and drove away. A motive hasn’t been revealed.
In a news conference in Flint, Mich., Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton outlined the path police believe Abuelazam took after leaving his job at a party supply store in that city on Aug. 2. Authorities said he traveled to Leesburg, where he is suspected of attacking three men on Aug. 3, 5 and 6, respectively. Documents showed that Abuelazam had addresses in Virginia, but most recently had lived in Grand Blanc, Mich.
On Aug. 5, Abuelazam was arrested in Arlington, Va., during a traffic stop on a simple assault warrant. Police found a knife and hammer in his car, according to news accounts. He was released early that day and police believe he later stabbed a man in Leesburg, The Washington Post reported. The Israeli citizen also had a court date next week on a 2008 misdemeanor assault charge.
Abuelazam’s suspected stabbing spree, traced back to May, ended with the Saturday night attack of a Toledo, Ohio, church custodian. Tony Leno, 59, was taking a smoking break at 7:45 p.m. when a man pulled up in a green and tan Chevy Blazer asking for directions. As Leno spoke to him, he was stabbed repeatedly in the stomach, Toledo police Chief Michael Navarre said.
The attack happened less than a mile from I-75, a freeway linking Leesburg and Flint, Navarre said, adding that authorities have evidence placing Abuelazam in Toledo at the time. Leno, in critical condition at Mercy St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, was able to describe his attacker and the SUV, Navarre said.
On Wednesday, Michigan State Police received an arrest warrant for Abuelazam for aggravated assault with intent to kill, according to Leyton. After investigators located him in Louisville, they contacted Atlanta police and the Transportation Security Administration, setting up the arrest.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution