Upon their arrival, officers found the victims, “who had been stabbed repeatedly,” and learned that their attacker had fled the scene, King said in the statement. The victims were taken to area hospitals, where they are expected to survive, King said.

Waltham officers were summoned to 18 Wheelock Road at 1:37 a.m. for a report of a stabbing, Detective Sergeant Timothy King, a Waltham police spokesman, said in a statement.

A 16-year-old boy from Waltham is in police custody in connection with the stabbings early Monday morning of two women who are Brandeis University graduate students, Waltham police and Brandeis officials said.


Almost two hours later, Waltham police received “a report of a party covered in blood breaking into a car,” he said. Police believed the attempted break-in was related to the stabbings and that the suspect was still nearby, King said.

Just before 5:15 a.m., police found the 16-year-old and took him into custody, King said. It was not immediately known when he would be arraigned at Waltham District Court.

Wheelock Road is just off the Brandeis campus. According to an e-mail to the university community from Edward Callahan, Brandeis’s director of public safety, Waltham police alerted his department to the stabbing early Monday, and the university activated its emergency notification system as Brandeis police worked to ensure the campus was secure.

“Student Affairs is coordinating with the hospitals to ensure the students are supported and has reached out to their families as well,” Callahan said in the e-mail. He also said there will be extra campus police patrols over the next few days.



Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeremycfox.