A 60-year-old victim of one of two machete attacks by a suspect in downtown Los Angeles was identified by county authorities Thursday.
The first assault by a shirtless, machete-wielding man occurred about 12:05 a.m. Sunday in the 1100 block of South Grand Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division.
The victim, who the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified as Renato Eustaquio, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“While conducting lifesaving measures on the victim, officers received an additional call of an `ambulance cutting’ from a secondary location,” according to a statement from the LAPD’s Central Division.
The second location was in the area of 1026 S. Broadway, police said.
“Officers responded to that location and found a victim,” the LAPD added. “Officers rendered first aid and they were provided information regarding a suspect. Officers searched the area and located a possible suspect and the alleged weapon.”
The second victim, who KTLA 5 identified as Kyle Levitt, was taken to a hospital. As of Sunday evening, he was said to be in “stable condition” according to the LAPD.
Levitt said he was walking home from his job at a restaurant as a chef when he was attacked. “By the time I looked up and saw the reflection in the door, I noticed a man running up behind me,” he explained to KTLA. “I put my arms up to say stop and that’s when he hit me again.”
According to KTLA 5, Levitt sustained multiple serious injuries to his head that required staples and a blow to his right wrist that nearly severed his hand.
“My tendons were cut completely down to the bone. My artery was cut, and he was over me at this point and that is the first time that I’d seen that he had the knife in his hand,” he said.
The suspect in custody was only described as a 26-year-old man. Details regarding the motive and charges he would be facing were unclear.