Man stabbed to death outside Downey Library

DOWNEY — A man was stabbed to death Saturday in front of the Downey City Library and the ambulance of responding paramedics was stolen during the call.

The stabbing occurred about 9:35 a.m. Saturday in front of the library at 11121 Brookshire Ave., according to Downey Police Department Lt. Dustin Doyle.

Downey Fire Department paramedics tried to save the victim but he was pronounced dead at the scene, Doyle said. There was no information immediately available about the man.

Witnesses told police the suspect fled toward Downey High School, and the school and library were placed on lockdown while officers searched for the suspect, he said.

The suspect, a 23-year-old man believed to be a transient, was taken into custody at Downey High School, Doyle said.

"While emergency personnel were tending to the victim at the library, a male suspect, unrelated to the homicide investigation, stole a Downey Fire Department ambulance that was parked at the homicide scene," he said.

Downey officers chased the ambulance to the city of Alhambra, where the suspect crashed the ambulance into a parked vehicle, Doyle said.

That suspect was a 52-year-old man who lives in Los Angeles, he said.

Both cases were under investigation, Doyle said.

Anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact Det. J. Estrada at 562-904-2332 or jestrada@downeyca.org or Crime Stoppers at 800- 222-8477.