Man Stabbed to Death in Salinas; Suspect Arrested

A security guard at a 99 Cent Store in Salinas was stabbed to death early Thursday evening, marking the latest incident in a wave of violence that has washed through the city.

Just after 5pm, Salinas police arrived at the store to find suspect Richard Gutierrez, 22, running through the front door at the store on East Laurel Drive and North Main Street. After allegedly stabbing Victor Sosa with a fixed-blade knife, Gutierrez found himself the victim of an attack by shoppers who threw canned goods at him in an attempt to get him away from the guard.

Sosa, a 57-year-old Salinas resident, died a short time later at Natividad Medical Center. Gutierrez also was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries, but according to Salinas Police Sgt. Kendall Gray, Gutierrez refused medical attention. He was then taken to the Monterey County Jail and booked on charges of attempted robbery and homicide.

“This is not gang-motivated,” says Salinas Police Sgt. Jeff Gibson. “There is nothing to lead us to believe it is.”

According to Gibson, Gutierrez was arrested last week in Salinas for being drunk in public, but was released.

According to witnesses at the scene, Gutierrez had entered and left the store multiple times before the attack. The final time he entered, he stood near a cash register, then grabbed the guard and stabbed him multiple times. 

This incident marked the sixth fatality connected to violence since July 24, when a 15-year-old boy was shot to death in what police describe as a gang-related killing. Three men were shot on the outskirts of Salinas the next day while changing a tire; one of them died. Friday night, police shot and killed an armed man and known gang member on East Market Street. Sunday morning, a young, single mother was shot to death in a South Salinas motel, and a 60-year-old carpenter working on a city-owned property was shot and killed in an apparent robbery. Wednesday night, meanwhile, saw one man shot in East Salinas, and officers fired upon while investigating an apparent attempted burglary of a thrift store on East Alisal Street.