A man was stabbed in the back during a fight near a clothing store at Santa Rosa Plaza, and the suspect later walked into the police department and surrendered. Santa Rosa police arrested a 26-year-old man Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8, 2026, after the attack, which investigators believe was gang-related and tied to a fight near a clothing store hosting a public meet-and-greet.
Officers responded to a report of a stabbing inside the mall and found an adult male victim with a stab wound to his back, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment of serious injuries and is expected to survive, police said. The Press Democrat reported that the call came in around 1:15 p.m. Sunday after a fight involving six people broke out, and that the victim's injuries from the single stab wound were serious but not life-threatening.
Police said a preliminary investigation determined that a physical altercation involving multiple people occurred near the clothing-store meet-and-greet. Investigators believe the stabbing was gang-related.
Suspect Surrenders
Authorities identified a 26-year-old Santa Rosa man as the suspect but withheld his name. Officers searched the mall for the suspect and the knife used in the attack but did not locate either one, police said, before the man later surrendered at the Santa Rosa Police Department and was arrested.
The man was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The Press Democrat reported Monday that authorities were withholding the arrested man's name because he had not been formally charged. CBS San Francisco's report that a suspect fled and remained at large concerned a separate Santa Rosa Plaza stabbing reported in December 2019, not the November 2026 stabbing.
Investigators Still Seeking Witnesses
The Press Democrat reported that investigators believed the stabbing was gang-related and that the investigation remained active as of Monday afternoon.
It is not the first time Santa Rosa Plaza has seen a stabbing tied to a fight between people who knew each other or crossed paths inside the mall. In December 2012, a 21-year-old man was stabbed numerous times in the torso in what police at the time described as a fight between two acquaintances, according to the Press Democrat's archived coverage. Police in that earlier case arrested 22-year-old Jeremy Hogan near the mall on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
