SOMERSET — A Minnesota teenager died and four other people were seriously injured after they were stabbed while rafting in a river in western Wisconsin, authorities said. The Sheriff of St. Croix Scott Knudson, the victims and the suspect, a 52-year-old Prior Lake, Minnesota man, were all in the Apple River when the attack happened Saturday afternoon. Knudson said investigators are working to determine what led to the stabbings and whether the victims and the suspect knew each other. They had pipelines with two different groups that included about 20 people. Water reclamation authorities are combing the Apple River with metal detectors after five people were stabbed while wading down the river on Saturday in Somerset. ALEX KORMANN, STAR TRIBUNE VIA RESP “We still don’t know who connected with who, who knew each other or what caused it,” Knudson said. The stabbing occurred in a remote stretch of the river near the town of Somerset, located about 35 miles east of Minneapolis. The suspect was arrested about an hour and a half later while wading down the river.

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“Thank God a witness took a picture of him,” Knudson told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Another witness spotted him at the exit of the tube area, where he was taken into custody.” A 17-year-old boy from Stillwater, Minnesota has died. Two of the other victims were airlifted to a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, and two others were taken there by ambulance. The sheriff’s office said Sunday that the condition of all four surviving victims — a woman and three men in their 20s — ranged from serious to critical. They had stab wounds on their chest and torso. The sheriff’s office did not name the victims, but provided a few details about them. Among the victims were a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old from Luck. a 22-year-old man from Elk River, Minnesota. and a 24-year-old woman from Burnsville, Minnesota. The suspect’s name was not immediately released, but St. Louis County Jail records show Croix records show a 52-year-old man was being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder, four counts of aggravated assault and four counts of disorderly conduct. The Edgewood High School football team was in the WIAA playoffs when it was disqualified for having an ineligible player.
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