Violent Thanksgiving Morning: El Centro Stabbing Victim Airlifted to Hospital

El Centro, CA — On Thanksgiving morning, a victim of attempted murder was flown to a Coachella Valley hospital after sustaining eight stab wounds in an apparent robbery near Fifth Street and Holt Avenue in El Centro, according to El Centro Police Department records obtained by Calexico Chronicle.

A friend of the victim discovered him leaning against the distinctive white fencing at the U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer store at 588 S. 4th St., on the corner with Fourth Street. The 911 call reporting the incident came in just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23.

The victim, whose age and city of residence were not disclosed, was initially taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center by ambulance before being airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center’s trauma unit in Palm Springs by a REACH helicopter, as per police information.

While the victim was uncooperative with law enforcement, it appears two Hispanic males, with short hair or bald, wearing dark clothing, stabbed the victim eight times in the left side of the abdomen. The assailants reportedly left the scene with the victim’s BMX-style bike.

Police conducted a search in surrounding areas, including homeless camps in the 100 block of Orange Avenue, Third Street, the railroad tracks, and New Street and Brighton Avenue. Officers indicated plans to follow up at a local business in the area that might have security cameras facing the site of the crime, according to police logs.

As the investigation continues, the community awaits further information on this unsettling incident that occurred near Fifth Street and Holt Avenue on Thanksgiving morning.