Melanie Eversley, and Steph Solis

USA TODAY

A man described by his family as mentally ill fatally stabbed at least two people Tuesday in a bizarre rampage south of Boston that began with a car crash in a residential area and ended when an off-duty officer shot and killed him inside a shopping mall, state police said.

The string of assaults began around 7 p.m. when Arthur DaRosa, 28, crashed a car outside a home in Taunton, Mass., then walked inside and stabbed two women, according to a statement by Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.

One of the victims, who was 80, died later at a local hospital.

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DaRosa then jumped in a car and drove to the Silver City Galleria mall, Quinn said. After crashing the car in front of a Macy's department store, he went inside and attacked several people before running off to a Bertucci's restaurant, where he stabbed four more people.

One of those victims, a 56-year-old Taunton man, later died.

DaRosa, who was from Taunton, located 39 miles south of Boston, was shot and killed at the Silver City Galleria by an off-duty deputy sheriff.

"It appears that but for the actions of the deputy sheriff, there may very well have been other victims," Quinn said. "I want to extend my heartfelt prayers and sympathies to the victims of this horrific violence."

Authorities said they did not see an ongoing threat from the attacks. "The suspect’s motive remains under investigation but at this point we are aware of no nexus to terrorism," state police said in a statement.

Kerri Devries, 31, DaRosa’s older sister, told the Boston Herald that his brother had been battling depression for years. She said he had been hospitalized for depression just one day before the rampage and was sent home Tuesday.

“He went to the ER, they put him in a psych ward,” she told the newspaper. “All he kept saying (Monday) was the devil was playing tricks on him and was going to poison the minds of his children.”

“I feel so sorry for those families and what happened, but he’s not completely to blame, he was sick,” she added. “He’s been talking about suicide for the past week. My brother was always a loving person and anybody who knows him knows that ... That wasn’t him. He wanted help."

DaRosa's father and sister told WBZ-TV that DaRosa, who had two children, suffered from psychiatric issues in the past but refused to take medication.