Davis stabbings: Person of interest detained, other updates from rattled community

With Davis on edge after three recent stabbings — two of them fatal — the city and the University of California campus are urging people not to be out alone after dark.

UC Davis has made changes to its schedule and its security staffing this week, including shifting all night classes to remote instruction and extending the hours of its Safe Ride and campus escort programs. Beyond the campus, night events have been canceled and some businesses are closing in the early evening.

Attacks in city parks April 27 and April 29 killed two men — one of them a UC undergraduate. A third attack May 1 wounded a woman in a homeless encampment. Descriptions of the stabber in the last two attacks were similar: a light-skinned man about 5-foot-7 and of thin build, with dark, curly hair, and wearing a dark sweatshirt and black Adidas track pants.

Police confirmed to the Davis Enterprise that a “person of interest” was detained and questioned Wednesday evening. He had been reported by a resident who saw him sitting by the playground in Sycamore Park, site of the second attack. The person went with the police voluntarily, they said.

Though there were witnesses to two of the attacks, no sketch has been released of the suspect. A sketch that was produced was determined to be “not viable for use,” a police press release said.

The map below shows the approximate locations of the attacks.

1/ Thursday, April 27. Around 11:20 a.m., police were called to Central Park and found the body of David Breaux, 50. He had been stabbed multiple times. He was a community fixture, known as “the Compassion Guy” for his conversations with people he met on the street. His online bio said he received a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Stanford in 1998.

2/ Saturday, April 29. UC Davis undergraduate Karim Abou Najm, 20, was found fatally stabbed on a path in Sycamore Park around 9 p.m. A 911 call had reported a dispute. His father, a professor at the university, said the young man was heading home after a research presentation at the campus. Abou Najm was a graduate of Davis High School and was to have received his bachelor’s degree in computer science next month.

3/ Monday, May 1. A 64-year-old woman was stabbed through the side of her tent around 11:45 p.m. in an encampment near Second and L streets.  She was critically injured and underwent surgery at UC Davis Medical Center.

4/ Wednesday, May 3. A “person of interest” was detained by police near Pine and Colby streets around 5 p.m. after being seen sitting near the playground in Sycamore Park.