Global Courant 2023-05-02 21:06:03
DAVIS, California –
A third stabbing in less than a week in the small town of Davis on Tuesday forced an hours-long shelter injunction for the university and large parts of downtown as authorities searched garden to garden for the attacker.
Around midnight, there was a massive police response after an emergency call reported that a woman living in a homeless camp had been stabbed repeatedly through the fabric of her tent. The police combed the area, but did not find the attacker. The shelter order was lifted around 6 a.m
The woman was transported to UC Davis Medical Center, where she was admitted in critical condition, police said.
Two previous stabbings — one attacked Thursday morning in Central Park by a beloved town character and the other attacked Saturday night by a UC Davis senior in a park near an elementary school — both died at the scene.
The assailant of the latest attack was seen running west toward the commercial area of the city. He was described as a fair-skinned man between five and six feet tall with curly hair.
That is the same description of the assailant in Saturday’s fatal stabbing.
The spate of seemingly random violent attacks has stunned residents of the small town of 68,000 just west of Sacramento, which has had no reported homicide since 2019.
In a warning on the Police Facebook pageofficials said the department “understands the uncertainty, fear and panic that is emerging in the community.”
The FBI has been called in to assist, as have numerous agents from departments in the region.
“At this time, the community is strongly advised to remain vigilant, be aware of your surroundings and call the Davis Police Department if anyone is seen being violent, suspicious or matching the description provided,” the police said.
After the police alerts shook residents up in the middle of the night, many took to Facebook to warn each other about the latest attack and express their fear and shock over the spate of crimes.
“Shelter available from 1:10am,” one woman posted to a local parent group. “I am so afraid.”
“A real serial killer in our town,” another parent added. “This is so scary.”
The first two victims had little in common other than they were both known and loved in the community. David Henry Breaux, 50, was a Stanford University graduate and popular Davis character known informally as “the Compassion Man” for his habit of encouraging people to embody a spirit of compassion.
In 2013, Breaux partnered with community and city members upright a “Compassion Corner Earthbench.” The bank, to which many contributed ceramic tiles, celebrated the value of compassion.
Breaux was found dead around 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the city’s Central Park, home of the famous farmers’ market. He appeared to be sitting on a picnic bench near the shady playground. Mothers and their children climbed into the play structures nearby, never suspecting anything was going on. But at least one person took notice and called for a welfare check. Officials responded and found that Breaux had been stabbed multiple times.
The second victim was UC Davis student and Davis High School graduate Karim Abou-Najim, who was attacked at about 9:15 p.m. Saturday as he cycled home from an event at the university.
Najim, who had posted on social media in recent months expressing his happiness at getting a job as a software engineer, was pronounced dead at the scene.
