In just the last week, one person is dead, three were shot, two were stabbed, and three others were also hospitalized after being assaulted. What connects these separate attacks: All of the victims were selected at random, according to investigators.
Three people are now in custody after the trio of violent crime sprees.
San Diego Crime Sprees
Last Monday, a man attacked six complete strangers downtown near C Street, stabbing two of them. Both were hospitalized. That suspect is now in jail.
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Friday night, police arrested a man they said drove around San Diego County shooting people at random. One victim is dead, three others were hospitalized. On Monday, San Diego police elaborated on the random aspect to the shootings.
"Detectives have learned it appears the suspect essentially went on a shooting spree where he drove to different locations in the county and city of San Diego," the release said. "For reasons that remain uncertain at this time, it appears he targeted random groups of people. There does not appear to be a link between each of the victim groups. It seems the suspect randomly saw and selected each group, got out of his vehicle, and opened fire after approaching them on foot."
On Sunday afternoon, according to SDPD, a man tried to rob another man in the Horton Plaza parking garage before beating him with a 2x4. While officers were investigating that attack, police said, the suspect walked down the block and struck and sexually assaulted a woman outside the Happy Head Massage parlor. During the time police were responding to the second attack, officers spotted someone matching the suspect description and arrested him. During that arrest, they learned about a third attack — the suspect struck someone in the head near Ralphs on G Street with a wine bottle. All three victims were hospitalized.
“Does it feel like we’ve seen a rash of violence lately?” San Diego Police spokesman Lt. Adam Sharki wondered aloud. "Yeah, it certainly does."
Sharki said the recent wave of violence takes a toll on everyone.
“Your police officers are experiencing this too,” Sharki said. “I think that’s important to remember.”
Sharki hopes the public can at least take some solace in knowing that after all three events, the suspects were taken into custody.
It’s a lot of violence in a short period of time, but putting it into perspective, said SANDAG'S principal criminal justice researcher, Octavio Rodriguez, San Diego is still a much safer place to live than most of the country.
“We are not seeing spikes or dramatic increases in violence,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said violent crime in San Diego rose in the first half of last year compared with the year before. But it’s not rising in the county as much as it is in the rest of the nation.
“We are a very safe region compared to other big metropolitan areas,” Rodriguez said.
While crime rates are far below the surge seen in '90s, Rodriguez said. the fact that they are rising steadily in the wrong direction is a reality all cities need to face.
“It's still undeniable that there is an increase in violent crime rates overall in the nation,” Rodriguez said.
This increase in violent crime comes at an especially challenging time for San Diego police. Like departments across the country, it is short-staffed.
“I know that it seems like we’re really busy,” Sharki said. “We are. We’re short a couple hundred officers in the city of San Diego, but if you have an emergency, we will turn on the lights and siren and get there as quickly as we can.”
A big reason why, Sharki said, that police were able to arrest all three suspects is because of great witnesses. People provided accurate detailed car and suspect descriptions. License plate numbers, photographs and calls to 911 were phoned in seconds after each of the attacks.
SANDAG’s most recent crime analysis only includes data through June 2022.
