Huntington Beach Man Slain in Apartment Robbery Is Identified

A Huntington Beach man who was stabbed to death after a gun-toting trio burst into an apartment was identified Thursday as William Francis O’Gorman, a 30-year-old salesman.

Police Thursday said O’Gorman, who was visiting at the apartment, was stabbed in the head and chest Wednesday night by one of three suspects who entered the apartment at 8180 Holland St. and stole an unknown amount of cash. O’Gorman died at the scene.

Steven Allen Fritchel, 25, who lives at the apartment, was stabbed in the arm, police said. They added that Fritchel, also a salesman, was treated and released from a local hospital.

Police Sgt. Mike Relic said three other men were visiting Fritchel’s apartment when the intruders, one armed with a sawed-off shotgun, charged in. Relic said the two young men and a woman ordered the group to lie on the floor, and that the two victims were stabbed when they refused.

Relic declined to comment on whether the victims knew their assailants. A description of the getaway car has been broadcast to all county law enforcement agencies, police said.

The gun was never fired, police said, but it may have been used to beat some of the apartment occupants. Officers found a large carving knife at the apartment, but Relic said it was not clear if it was the weapon used in the stabbings.