A suspect has been arrested following the harrowing incident that occurred near Commodore Sloat Elementary School last Wednesday, where a father was fatally stabbed in front of his child. The San Francisco Police Department confirmed that the man in custody is 42-year-old Daniel Patrick Rodriguez Jr., widely believed to be responsible for the death of 35-year-old Robert Paul Byrd II. According to Hoodline, the SFPD received a call at 4:38 PM and found Byrd with a critical stab wound, and despite emergency crews’ efforts, he later died in the hospital.
The SFPD meticulously tracked down Rodriguez Jr., five hours away in Tuolumne County, deploying 60 officers to bring him into custody. "Many of our officers haven't slept in a couple days. They worked around the clock. With community cooperation and with utilizations of technology and a major deployment of our police personnel, we were able to follow leads that led us to Tuolumne County, and we made a safe arrest this morning," Thomas Macguire, SFPD's Commander of the Investigation's Unit, relayed to ABC7 News.
Robert Paul Byrd II, the victim, had just retrieved his 8-year-old son from the school at the time of the stabbing. Witnesses report an alteration taking place before the violence ensued.
The incident has caused unrest within the community. Marty Monfirdini, a local resident, expressed to ABC7 News the widespread dismay: "We didn't know if it was random or targeted. It's terrible. Something like this shouldn't happen anywhere in the city." Meanwhile, an outpouring of support has manifested in a GoFundMe campaign to help cover Byrd's funeral expenses and support his grieving family, effectively raising $58,230 of its $80,000 goal, as reported by the page itself at GoFundMe.
