Overview
- The stabbing happened at Courthouse Park in downtown Fresno around 1:13 p.m. Thursday when a senior deputy district attorney was attacked.
- Deputies assigned to the courthouse ran to the scene and located a suspect about three minutes later near Fresno Street and Van Ness Avenue, using a Taser to detain him and recovering a weapon.
- The injured prosecutor was taken to Community Regional Medical Center for treatment and was reported awake and talking while officials have not released the person’s full condition.
- District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp condemned the attack and said investigators are probing motive; she told a local station that the suspect had been convicted in a case handled by the prosecutor and described the incident as retaliatory, a claim now under investigation.
- Authorities said the suspect will be evaluated at a hospital before booking into Fresno County Jail and asked anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office or submit anonymous tips to Valley Crime Stoppers.