Suspect in northwest Fresno grocery store stabbing identified by police

Manuel Bracker was identified by police on Thursday as the suspected attacker of a 64-year-old woman stabbed repeatedly in a Fresno grocery store.

The 32-year-old was booked on an attempted murder charge, according to Fresno jail records.

The attack took place Wednesday morning at the Grocery Outlet near West Shaw and North Marty avenues in northwest Fresno, police reported.

The woman, believed to be homeless, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition after the attack. At the scene, Lt. Joe Gomez said investigators had many unanswered questions. It wasn’t known whether the victim and Bracker had any prior contacts, or whether it was a random assault.

Officers also are trying to figure out why Bracker became involved in another altercation with the driver of a BMW, an incident that led to his capture and arrest.

Also unknown: whether the woman and Bracker had an exchange of words that prompted the stabbing.

Gomez said officers who sped to the store found the woman on the floor near cash registers in a pool of blood. Video caught the attack, which happened in the back of the store, and it shows the victim being stabbed at least twice by some type of sharp weapon.

Store workers chased Bracker, who ran north of the store and vanished near an apartment complex. Gomez said officers initially concentrated their search on a motel nearby, but then saw that the BMW driver was in an altercation with a man who turned out to be the suspect. Officers took Bracker into custody and also searched an apartment where he is believed to stay.

This story was originally published March 7, 2019 at 9:33 AM.