San Diego police took a man into custody early Monday, accused of attacking at least six people, including stabbing two of them in downtown San Diego.
The attacks happened in a relatively short period of time – around 5 a.m. – and in a relatively small area, in the vicinity of State Street near Broadway and C Street, according to San Diego police Lt. Brian Avera.
Several hours later, police were still clearing the area.
Police said the suspect was Christopher Torres, who stabbed one person 14 times and another person four times, according to Lt. Avera. Both stabbing victims were in hospital, underwent surgery and are expected to survive.
The fourth victim who was stabbed four times is a security guard employed by Allied Security, according to Sonia Miro, Director of Property Management for Kearny Real Estate Company, which manages the property near where the victim was stabbed.
The other victims were not seriously injured, explained Lt. Avera.
Torres has been booked into jail for “assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and we are evaluating this as possibly attempted murder just for the sheer violence that happened today,” said Lt. Avera.
San Diego News
A woman told NBC 7 that as she headed east on C Street, she saw a man she believed to be homeless behaving erratically as she headed east on C Street, away from the 7-Eleven. The man went to a painter who was working in the area, the woman said, said something to him, and then pulled a knife on the painter. The worker was not physically harmed, however, the woman added. He said the homeless man also stole someone’s backpack but he was not sure if that person was stabbed.
Investigators said there were no other suspects.