death. >> reporter: booker spent three weeks in intensive care, stabbed five times. he's one of at least 20 victims linked to the serial slasher since may, most of them in flint, where five men were killed. three men were stabbed in leesburg, virginia. another in toledo, ohio. >> 911. >> a guy has been stabbed several times in the stomach near the corner of collingwood and floyd. he is bleeding profusely. >> reporter: booker is the exception. nearly every other victim is african-american. >> only thing that kept me alive is because i played dead. >> he is methodical from the standpoint of figuring out a way to get people to him or catch them off guard. >> reporter: the attacks have been happening on average every four days. the most recent one, saturday night. leaving investigators with the nearly impossible task of staying one step ahead of a serial killer. >> it can be that one scrap of information that happens to blow a case wide open. >> reporter: authorities are hopeful tips and a trail of