RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — A seven-year-old little girl is recovering after the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said a neighbor stabbed her in the back.
The suspect, identified by the sheriff's office as Angelo Bagnas, was arrested early Wednesday morning following an hours-long standoff.
Families at the apartment complex are still in shock after some people said they saw her right after she was stabbed. They’re distraught thinking it could have been anyone's child, especially since a lot of kids usually play outside, not far from the man's apartment.
"At that time when we see her, she was bleeding because her clothes were full of blood," said Abdul Manan Sial, a father of four, who lives at apartments.
The stabbing was reported along the 2800 block of La Loma Drive in Rancho Cordova.
"Starting back last night about 7:15 p.m., we had deputies out here on an unrelated call. They were waved down by family members of a seven-year-old victim, saying she was actually stabbed," said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said the suspect then barricaded himself inside his apartment with a knife in hand.
Yulianna Alejandrina Espinosa Rivera lives in the same building with her husband and three children.
"They knocked on this window here, that we had to evacuate, to get out. They gave us five minutes to grab our car keys and jackets, and we were told we were going outside," said Espinosa Rivera in Spanish.
As a mother, she's terrified thinking it could have happened to one of her daughters, especially since her youngest enjoys playing outside by herself.
"I can't even imagine the little girl's mother when they told her that they had stabbed her. Imagine what her thoughts were... It's a miracle that little girl is alive," said Espinosa Rivera, in Spanish.
It took several hours before the suspect was taken into custody around 5 a.m. Wednesday. The sheriff's office said this is the first call they've had related to this man.
Families and Sial said their kids are afraid to go outside.
"We're really concerned about this issue and this incident, because I have four kids and the elder one is eight years old. And, I'm really scared. I don't even let them outside my apartment because it's not safe, and it should be," said Sial.
Some residents out here could were not allowed into their apartments until about 6 a.m. after sleeping in their cars.
The sheriff's office said the man in his 30s is possibly facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
The sheriff's office said the man in his 30s is possibly facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
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