Violent attack left woman bleeding out from the neck on the floor of a Fresno grocery store

Manuel Bracker, 32, was identified Thursday as the man in custody after a 64-year-old woman was stabbed in the neck repeatedly Wednesday morning at a Grocery Outlet in northwest Fresno, police reported.

The woman, believed to be homeless, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition after the attack, which took place at the Grocery Outlet store at West Shaw and North Marty avenues.

Police were attempting to sort out the violent and bizarre incident that was reported about 10:30 a.m.

Lt. Joe Gomez said investigators have many unanswered questions. It isn’t known whether the victim and her attacker had any prior contacts, or whether it was a random assault.

Officers also are trying to figure out why the fleeing suspect 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 the suspect 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 the suspect, 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 the man into custody and also searched an apartment where he is believed to stay.

It was not immediately known what charges the suspect would face and whether the weapon had been recovered.

This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 1:27 PM.