By JONATHAN DREW
Associated Press
NEW BERN, N.C. (AP) — A neighbor attacked a Burmese family with a knife, stabbing to death three young brothers who were ages 1, 5 and 12, a police chief said Wednesday.
The boys’ mother and older sister were also wounded in the attack Tuesday night, New Bern Police Chief Toussaint Summers Jr. said.
The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Eh Lar Doh Htoo, also a Burmese immigrant, was arrested and charged. He lived near the family and knew them, but the chief didn’t know any more about their relationship.
Authorities weren’t sure of a motive and a language barrier is affecting the investigation.
“The first officers who arrived on the scene observed the suspect with a knife,” the chief said. “They gave him commands and he complied with the commands.”
The wounded mother and her 14-year-old daughter were released from the hospital. Police did not release the victims’ names.
Htoo was expected to appear in court Thursday. Police said they did not know whether he had an attorney.
About 11 p.m. Tuesday, officers were called to a report of a person with a knife. They entered the home and found the injured and two of the dead children. A third child died at a hospital, police said.
New Bern is a picturesque town of 30,000 on the water near the coast and is home to about 1,900 Burmese refugees.
“Anytime this happens in any community, any part of town, it’s surprising. You just don’t expect this type of crime to occur,” the chief said.
Susan Husson, executive director of the Interfaith Refugee Ministry in New Bern, said the victims’ family and the suspect’s family likely came through her office before settling in New Bern, but she didn’t know them personally. She said the first Burmese refugee came to New Bern around 1999.
“It’s just really hard right now,” she said. “It’s been really horrific.”
The stabbings happened on a street of about 10 homes that face a railroad track and several dilapidated commercial buildings.
A neighbor who lives about five houses away said he heard sirens late Tuesday night and decided to stay inside.
“We were scared. We just locked the door,” said 23-year-old Yyoch Rmah, who moved to the U.S. from Vietnam in 2006.
He said there were a lot of Burmese refugees in the neighborhood, and people from other countries.
“People keep to themselves,” he said.
New Bern draws tourists from around the region and is known for being the birthplace of Pepsi and the colonial capital of North Carolina.
——
Associated Press writers Martha Waggoner and Michael Biesecker in Raleigh contributed to this report.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.