Before Arthur DaRosa allegedly went on a rampage at the Silver City Galleria in Taunton, Massachusetts, witnesses say he was at the Taunton Youth Soccer fields off Myricks Street, watching his daughter play soccer and kicking around a soccer ball with his young son.
But other soccer parents say it quickly became apparent he was distraught.
"He was just going on and on, looked like he was having some sort of mental breakdown, he was very upset, he went from being in tears and crying to asking for forgiveness, saying that God would not forgive him," said parent Wendy Melo.
Emily Farrer and her husband spoke with DaRosa on the sidelines.
"He said, 'No I really screwed up, I really made a huge mistake, I don't know what to do,' so we told him it would probably be OK, it would work out," said Farrer. "He kept saying it wasn't going to work out."
Farrer says DaRosa never explained what he thought he had done wrong.
"He didn't seem like a menace, he just seemed scared and sad," she said. "Obviously something had snapped."
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But it was what he said right before he left the soccer fields - leaving his two children behind - that will forever haunt Wendy Melo and Carolyn Butts.
"He did say at one point 'I hope people can take care of kids that aren't their own as if they are their own,'" said Butts.
"I think the last few words were just uttered to his kids, just to 'keep trying, keep going,'" said Melo.
"All of a sudden, I didn't hear him talking, and then we heard the crash," added Butts.
Knowing now what DaRosa allegedly did after that crash is difficult for these parents to comprehend.
"I wouldn't have guessed it at all, even when he was going on and upset," Melo said.
"It's terrifying, it's terrifying I think it's because it's like so random and that's the scariest thing," said Farrer.
DaRosa's truck crashed at the end of the driveway to the soccer fields.
The first stabbing happened a couple of doors down.
Parents say the coaches kept the soccer players distracted and parents took care of DaRosa's two children until a family member picked them up.
