Two in Custody After Blue Route Stabbing Chase; Villanova Lockdown Lifted

Two men are in custody after a stabbing on Interstate 476 led to a police chase that ended in Rosemont and brief lockdowns at Villanova University and Bryn Mawr Hospital, NBC10 Philadelphia and Fox 29 reported.

The incident began about 5:35 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6, in the southbound Blue Route lanes approaching Exit 13 in the Radnor / Lower Merion area, officials said. Law enforcement sources told NBC10 that two people inside a U-Haul were involved in a fight with a person in a dark-colored Mercedes; witnesses said one of the men in the truck pulled a knife and stabbed the victim in the stomach.

Pennsylvania State Police pursued as the U-Haul fled, with Lower Merion officers assisting. During the chase, a Lower Merion officer crashed on Pennswood Road at Montgomery Avenue; NBC10 later reported the officer was not injured. Fox 29 said police surrounded the U-Haul at Lancaster Avenue and County Line Road in Rosemont, that a knife was recovered nearby, and that a second man was taken into custody at a nearby park around 6:30 p.m.

Villanova and Bryn Mawr Hospital went into lockdown during the search; both alerts were lifted after the men were caught, police said. There is no ongoing threat to the community, according to Fox 29. A law enforcement source identified one suspect to NBC10, which is withholding the name until charges are filed. Identities, formal charges, and the stabbing victim’s condition have not been publicly released. The men are presumed innocent. Pennsylvania State Police are leading the investigation.

Sources: NBC10 Philadelphia; Fox 29 Philadelphia.