A man sleeping on the ground near the parking lot of Tiger Market & Bakery on Mount Vernon Avenue was stabbed multiple times before dawn Tuesday, and Alexandria police are now asking the public to help identify the suspect shown in a newly released image. Investigators describe the attacker as an adult male between 20 and 30 years old, roughly 180 pounds, with long black hair and a fair complexion.
According to DC News Now, the victim told officers an unknown man approached him and stabbed him multiple times as he slept near the market's parking lot. The suspect then ran off, crossing Mount Vernon Avenue before continuing onto Executive Avenue toward West Glebe Road, police said. The Alexandria Police Department is investigating the case as aggravated malicious wounding, and police have not released the victim's condition.
The timeline of the attack reveals a troubling gap in response. As ALXnow reports, EMS crews were first dispatched to 3903 Mount Vernon Ave. at 4:08 a.m. Tuesday for a report of unknown trouble, nearly an hour after the victim said the stabbing actually happened around 3:20 a.m. EMS crews called officers to the scene.
A Familiar Address for Violence
This is not the first time the market has been tied to a violent incident. Back in December 2023, a man who had been stabbed nearby stumbled into the same store seeking help before the suspect in that case fled in a vehicle, the same outlet's report notes. The repeat pattern at this stretch of the Mount Vernon Avenue corridor adds to longstanding unease in the surrounding Arlandria neighborhood.
Under Virginia law, the charge investigators are pursuing carries serious weight. Aggravated malicious wounding is classified as a Class 2 felony under Virginia Code § 18.2-51.2, according to Leiva Law, punishable by 20 years to life in prison and fines up to $100,000. Per B. Jones Legal, prosecutors must prove intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, resulting in severe bodily injury and permanent impairment.
Rising Homelessness Meets a Summer Crime Spike
The attack lands amid a broader rise in Alexandria's unsheltered population. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' February 2026 Point-in-Time survey counted 189 people experiencing homelessness citywide, a 14% increase from 2025, including 19 people sleeping outdoors, as reported by The Alexandria Brief. The 2026 Alexandria Point-in-Time homelessness count found that 133 people, or 71 percent, identified as Black, African American, or African.
Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire had already flagged a summer 2026 uptick in felonious assaults before this stabbing, pointing to separate attacks near the West End and the Braddock Road Metro Station in July, ALXnow reported. That warning stands in some contrast to the department's broader multi-year trend: the Alexandria Police Department's 2025 annual report, released in June, found citywide violent crime dropped 26.8% and overall crime fell 29.53% compared to 2024, according to The Alexandria Brief.
Arlandria's Distinct Safety Concerns
Residents in Alexandria's 22302 and 22314 ZIP codes have flagged violence and crime as their second-highest concern in survey data, even as residents in most other Alexandria ZIP codes ranked mental health as their top priority. Tiger Market & Bakery, where the victim sought help, operates as a Latin American and Salvadoran market and bakery open daily along the corridor, according to its Uber Eats listing.
Anyone with information or who can identify the man in the released photo is urged to contact Alexandria police Det. Griffin at 703-746-6782.
