Wannabe serial killer Raad Almansoori arrested at Scottsdale Fashion Square

Police chiefs from several law enforcement agencies in the Valley spent Wednesday explaining how aspiring serial killer Raad Almansoori was caught following two stabbing incidents over the weekend, including an attack on a young woman at a McDonald's.

Police said Almansoori, 26, planned to continue his rampage at Scottsdale Fashion Square, where Scottsdale police officers located and arrested him in a parking deck at the mall.

Surprise police Chief Benny Piña said during a press conference that Almansoori confessed to a stabbing on Sunday in Surprise as well as another stabbing on Saturday in Phoenix. In both cases, the victims survived.

According to Piña, Almansoori also confessed to the high-profile murder of a woman in a New York City hotel on Feb. 8.

"During his interview, Almansoori told us that he had intended to find and harm more individuals in our community," Piña said. The arrest "without a doubt" stopped Almansoori from continuing his "path of destruction," Piña added.

Police said Almansoori stabbed an 18-year-old woman multiple times in the women's restroom of a McDonald's at 15525 W. Greenway Road in Surprise. He then fled to a residential area where he allegedly stole a vehicle. Surprise police collaborated with other agencies to locate Almansoori by tracing the location of the vehicle's license plate, Piña said.

Scottsdale police Chief Jeff Walther explained that the license plate number was fed into a database of photos from automated license plate readers in Scottsdale. Police tracked the stolen vehicle to Scottsdale Fashion Square, where they found Almansoori in a parking garage.

"I think Chief Piña hit that nail on the head when he talked about that this gentleman was going to continue this string of violence, but he was going to do so there at Scottsdale Fashion Square," Walther said.

Walther added that his officers found Almansoori "backed into a spot, we believe, looking for another victim." Police arrested Almansoori at gunpoint.

Almansoori has been charged with armed robbery, attempted murder, aggravated assault and theft. Court records state that he is "a danger to other persons or the community" and is being held without bail.

‘He has full intent on killing others’

Court records for the two stabbings offered details of Almansoori's random acts of extreme violence.

The incident on Saturday in Phoenix occurred near a Starbucks at 19th and Glendale avenues, according to a probable cause statement on file with the Maricopa County Superior Court.

The female victim was a shift supervisor at the coffee shop. She took a 10-minute break and was sitting in her parked vehicle when Almansoori allegedly opened the front driver's side door and pointed a gun at her face.

Almansoori told the victim that he was "going to kill and shoot her." He lowered the handgun, took out a knife and began stabbing her. The victim "sustained stab wounds/lacerations to her left neck, temple, ear and left hand." Her attacker then walked away. Surveillance cameras captured the incident. The victim was later treated at a local hospital.

After his arrest, Almansoori told Surprise detectives that he stabbed the woman to keep her from screaming. He said he was planning on taking her car and raping her.

Almansoori said he was "looking for someone who was attractive" and alone and that he was "trying to kill and have sex with her."

The probable cause statement for the Sunday attack in Surprise said that surveillance footage from McDonald's showed Almansoori eating within eyesight of the women's bathroom. The victim, an employee of the restaurant, went into the bathroom, and Almansoori followed her.

The woman had locked herself inside a stall when Almansoori allegedly began "pounding on the stall door," according to court documents. When she didn't open the door, Almansoori crawled under it to get into the stall. He allegedly pointed a gun at the woman, she screamed, and he stabbed her at least three times in the neck. The woman was transported to a local hospital and underwent surgery.

Police said they confiscated a BB gun and a knife from Almansoori after he was arrested. Almansoori said he would have shot the woman "if it was a real gun." He didn't know the victim, but he "selected her because he was attracted to her."

The probable cause statement also has this chilling line: "Subject stating he has full intent on killing others again to include specific plans to kill his family."

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Almansoori's 30-year-old half sister said he had been violent toward his family. The half sister, who was not identified, lives in Phoenix.

Almansoori had called her recently to tell her he'd flown from New York to Phoenix — news that made her fear for her family's safety.

"I was scared last week when he told me he was back in Phoenix,” she told the Daily News. “The fact that he left New York so quickly made me think he did something out there, too.”

If the New York City Police Department is correct, her instincts were spot on.

Almansoori is a suspect in the murder earlier this month of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38, in a room at the SoHo 54 Hotel in Lower Manhattan.

Hotel workers discovered Oleas-Arancibia's body on Feb. 8. Several news outlets have reported that Oleas-Arancibia was bludgeoned to death with an iron. The NYPD released an image of a male suspect leaving the hotel wearing the pink leggings that Oleas-Arancibia had on before she was killed.

The suspect reportedly left a pair of bloody pants behind. The New York Times reported that New York police identified the man in the photo as Almansoori. The NYPD told the media outlet that authorities plan to extradite Almansoori from Arizona and charge him with Oleas-Arancibia's murder.

Rachel Mitchell starts social media feud with Manhattan DA

That extradition? Not so fast, according to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.

Mitchell, who spoke at the press event on Wednesday, said her office won't allow the extradition of Almansoori to New York. She took a long-range swipe at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the Manhattan DA there, Alvin Bragg, I think it's safer to keep (Almansoori) here and keep him in custody so that he cannot be out doing this to individuals either in our state or county or anywhere in the United States," Mitchell said.

That decision set off a social media feud between Mitchell, a Republican running for re-election this year, and Bragg, a Democrat known for his civil rights work and for prosecuting Donald Trump.

Bragg shot back at Mitchell, saying it was "deeply disturbing that DA Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation.”

Mitchell returned fire: "It’s great to see the @ManhattanDA finally take interest in violent crime. My job is to focus on the victims I was elected to protect."