San Diego
A 52-year-old man was fatally stabbed while trying to defend his wife from two assailants at a South San Diego grocery store, police reported Tuesday.
Cecelia Irwin called her husband, Charles, from a pay phone after two unidentified men approached her Monday night while she was buying bottled water in front of the Alpha Beta market at 3350 Palm Ave. and demanded her car keys, police said.
Charles Irwin and his son Dennis, 19, rushed from their home to the store a few blocks away and confronted the two assailants in the parking lot.
Charles and Dennis Irwin argued with the assailants briefly and went into the grocery store, which was preparing to close.
The assailants followed the family into the store, where one of the men drew a knife and stabbed the senior Irwin several times in the face, chest, back and abdomen as wife and son looked on in horror, police said.
Irwin was taken by a Life Flight helicopter to the UC San Diego Medical Center, where he died about 1:30 a.m. while undergoing surgery.
The assailants fled the store through a back door and escaped through the parking lot.
Lt. Paul Ybarrondo of the San Diego Police Department’s homicide detail said police have very little information about the attackers. The store was nearly empty when the stabbing occurred.
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