Longtime customer stunned by unprovoked attack of Chinatown bakery clerk
SAN FRANCISCO -- Longtime customer Ding Lee's voice filled with emotion as he described the horrific scene that unfolded inside a Chinatown bakery.
At around 9:50 a.m., a man walked into the popular AA Bakery & Cafe and began repeatedly stabbing a clerk. The victim, a female worker said to be in her late 50s, was taken to Zuckerberg SF General Hospital with life threatening injuries.
Lee was about to prepare his own cup of coffee when he heard screaming.
"The lady screaming behind the counter and then I snapped my head to go look at - 'Wow, the guy just stab, stab the lady just like pumping something on her shoulder... or back,'" he said.
The owner, who was upstairs at the time, told KPIX the woman had just started the job a few days ago.
"I warn my friend 'Hey get out here, that guy try to kill somebody,'" Lee said. "And then immediately that lady ran through in front of me. I had to step back and she just laid down in front of me and facing to the ceiling."
Lee called 911. He said the suspect was in no rush to flee the scene.
"The guy looked crazy, kind of mental problem," Lee said. "From very beginning until the end, until he dropped the knife, and then the police officer caught him, he never say a word, never."
Lee and the owner kept their eye on the suspect as he made his way outside until police arrived. He said the suspect held onto the weapon.
A knife could later be seen on the sidewalk near the bakery.
"He just so quiet and just stay there, the actions so - you know - you immediately feel he's not a normal person," Lee said.
Another customer who did not give KPIX their name was also stunned.
"When I walked in it was like normal," the witness said through a translator. "Suddenly I heard a woman scream. I turned to look. She was in pain. There were two women. The suspect was behind them. He had a knife and stabbed them 4-5 times. Then the woman was lying down in front of the coffee. She had her hand on her left neck and back. There was a lot of blood coming out."
