San Diego police took a man into custody early on Monday, accused of attacking at least six people, including stabbing two of them in downtown San Diego.
The attacks occurred 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 still had the area cordoned off.
Police identified the suspect as Christopher Torres, who stabbed a person 14 times and another person four times, according to Lt. Avera. Both stabbing victims were hospitalized, underwent surgery and are expected to survive.
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The fourth victim who was stabbed four times is a security guard employed by Allied Security, according to Sonia Miro, the 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, Lt. Avera clarified.
Torres has been booked into jail for "assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and we are evaluating this potentially as an attempted homicide just for the sheer violence that occurred today," said Lt. Avera.
San Diego News
A woman told NBC 7 that, as she was heading east on C Street, she saw a man she believed to be homeless acting erratically as she was heading east on C Street, away from the 7-Eleven. The man approached a painter 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. She said the homeless man also stole someone’s backpack but was not sure if that person was stabbed.
Investigators said there were no additional suspects involved.
