MEDIA RELEASE / COMMUNITY ALERT
For Immediate Release No. 20191029-056
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Suspect Arrested in Connection with Multiple Stabbings
San Mateo, CA – On Monday, October 28, 2019, San Mateo Police Department officers caught and arrested a suspect wading into lagoon waters after a rapidly evolving series of stabbings. Fortunately, the three victims, one in the BJ’s Restaurant parking lot, and two in the nearby Edgewater Isle neighborhood, received non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect was booked into San Mateo County Jail.
At 7:04 P.M., officers were dispatched to the parking lot of BJ’s Restaurant located in Bridgepointe Shopping Center at 2206 Bridgepointe Parkway. Upon their arrival, officers located a victim who had been stabbed in the neck and they immediately began rendering aid. With the help of witnesses, the suspect was described and seen running across Highway 92 from the shopping center.
At 7:36 P.M., police dispatch received 911 calls reporting two additional stabbing victims along the lagoon in the neighborhood on the other side of Highway 92. Upon arrival, officers contacted a cyclist suffering from stab wounds, and were then approached by an additional victim who had also been stabbed.
At around the same time, San Mateo Police Department’s Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) officers located the suspect wading in the lagoon and acting erratically. Utilizing crisis intervention training techniques, officers were able to negotiate and safely arrest the suspect. The victims were transported to a local trauma center for treatment of their wounds and the suspect was booked at San Mateo County Jail for multiple counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
SMPD would like to thank our allied agencies providing assistance and support during this investigation. Special thanks to Foster City Police Department!
Remember, “if you see something, say something.” We’re encouraging our community to utilize security cameras. They are especially helpful in identifying suspicious activity in neighborhoods when cameras are street facing. Our officers regularly canvass for surveillance and you can help us by registering your cameras at www.cityofsanmateo.org/NEST.
MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY:
Thanks to our partnership with the community and the willingness of witnesses to get involved, SMPD was able to capture the suspect responsible for this crime. This is a great opportunity remind our community of a few tips when calling 911 to report a crime:
-Try to stay calm. Excited callers are hard to understand. Expect our dispatchers to repeat and/or confirm your information. We want to be as accurate as possible.
-Clearly state the problem. Don’t call to say you need police and then hang up. We need to know what is going on so we can send the right kind of help. Don’t hang up.
-Know your address/location. Know your house/apartment number, complex/business name, street name/type (lane, drive street, avenue) and directional (north, south, east west). This is extremely important for cell phone callers. Cell phones do not provide an address.
-Let the 911 call taker control the conversation. We know this is an urgent, scary situation. Please don’t interrupt or talk over the call taker. If you do, we must repeat our questions. The call taker may interrupt you to get things back on track or get important information. Stick to the facts.
-We ask a lot of questions. We help get the right assistance to you as quickly as possible. On medical emergencies, we provide medical instructions while the ambulance is coming.
-Answer the questions as truthfully and completely as possible. If you don’t know, we might prompt you with “Dark or light-colored clothing?” or “Shorts or long pants?” If you don’t know the answer, don’t guess or assume.
-Don’t hang up until told to do so. Sometimes we keep you on the phone until help arrives. Other times, we let you go with instructions to call back if something changes. Wait until we tell you it is okay to hang up.
ARRESTED
Alejandro Canche, 19-year old East Palo Alto resident
Charges: Multiple counts of attempted murder (664/187 PC) and assault with a deadly weapon (245(a)1 PC).
MEDIA CONTACT
Michael Haobsh
Public Information Officer
Community & Media Relations
Desk: (650) 522-7626
Email: [email protected]
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