A 48-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in front of her two children on a downtown Lewiston sidewalk Sunday morning, police said.
A male suspect stabbed Kimberly Dobbie around 11 a.m. in front of Rancourt’s Laundromat on Sabattus Street, just as she had started a load of laundry and walked outside the business with her 11-year-old twin boys, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
A male bystander who was one of the several people who witnessed the attack — including Dobbie’s two young sons — ran over and tackled the assailant to the ground, pinning him there until Lewiston police arrived on the scene, McCausland said.
Police are still questioning the suspect, who is currently hospitalized with chest pains, he said. No charges have been brought in the assault. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.
First responders rushed Dobbie to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston after she was stabbed, but she died of her injuries early Sunday afternoon, McCausland said. Police didn’t say where the children were taken to.
Dobbie was residing at the faith-based Hope Haven shelter on Lincoln Street in Lewiston, he said.
Maine’s chief medical examiner is expected to perform an autopsy on Monday.
Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.