LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Violent attacks overnight at two downtown Louisville locations have many people asking questions about public safety in the city.

The two separate attacks -- a pair of stabbings and an assault with a hammer -- happened barely an hour apart, down the street from each other, and left three people injured.

The first attack took place at 4th Street Live! when police say a man with a knife attacked two people. The second attack was less than a mile away and involved a suspect with a hammer.

The attacks come as Doug Owen, the senior vice president of a commercial real estate company called JLL Properties, says downtown Louisville is making a comeback.

"We're definitely seeing a lot of people down here, both for business on pleasure," Owen said, adding that, "I feel like we're returning to where we were pre-COVID."

But as these incidents show, that comeback has not been without a few problems.

"There's always concerns, and I think my biggest concern is for the victims," he said. "But I do think it's a random act."

Just before midnight, police say 37-year-old Sean Coats walked up behind two strangers at Fourth Street Live! and cut their throats with a knife. Less than an hour later, police say, 40-year-old Andrew Hoke attacked a stranger with a hammer outside the Brown Theater.

Owen says public safety was on the top of his mind when he and other downtown Louisville business owners were on a conference call with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer in May.

Owen says they asked the mayor to address two issues.

"And the biggest ask was, 'Can you increase safety? Can you increase police presence -- a walking police presence on the major pedestrian thoroughfares?'" Owen said.

The other concern was the city's homeless population.

"He said he was going to address adding police...looking into adding police and look into moving homeless and the mentally ill off the streets of downtown," Owen said.

Louisville Metro Councilman Mark Fox is chairman of the Public Safety Committee, as well as a retired major. He says he believes a solution to the recent violence starts with addressing mental illness.

"What we're doing is not working," he said. "We need to chart a new path and go a different direction."

"We have such an issue with mental illness and substance abuse in our community," he added. "And we've got to find ways to solve that."

One of the victims in the knife attack has been treated and released. The other is in critical condition. The victim's name is Oscar Sanchez. Friends have started a gofundme account to help cover medical bills and the unexpected cost of family members flying to town. To donate, click here. 

The man attacked with the hammer is still in the hospital recovering from head trauma.

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