SAN FRANCISCO, CA- People Magazine reported a disturbing story out of San Francisco, where a hospital patient is accused of stabbing a social worker at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Dec. 4, killing him, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The victim later died.
Police said that Wilfredo Tortolero Arriechi was in the HIV clinic at the hospital when he suddenly stabbed Alberto Rangel around 1:30 p.m. without provocation. Rangel died two days later, authorities said.
Tortolero Arriechi is “charged with one count of murder, with an allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon (knife) in the commission of the murder,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced on Dec. 8. The SFPD Homicide Detail is investigating the incident.
The DA’s office said that the suspect was at the hospital to talk to a doctor and had the knife hidden on him. The suspect “appeared calm and engaged in a conversation with a social worker and was advised to leave,” court documents said. He and the victim walked to an elevator together, however Tortolero Arriechi suddenly grabbed Rangel from behind and “stabbed him numerous times.”
In a separate press release, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office said hospital security was alerted after a patient in the same ward threatened a doctor.
A deputy arrived at the hospital to provide security for the doctor when a disturbance erupted in the hallway, which was Tortolero Arriechi attacking Rangel. The deputy intervened, and the victim was taken to an operating room in critical condition, suffering from multiple stab wounds to his neck and shoulders. Officers later recovered a five-inch kitchen knife that is believed to be the weapon used.
On Dec. 7, a vigil was held for Rangel outside the hospital, and a GoFundMe page has been started to raise funds for an organization that was “special” to him.
A nurse who was also a friend of the victim, Jessica Hoopengardner, described him as “the most open-hearted, loving, non-judgmental, kind” person, according to Mission Local.
Another colleague, Maddy Auble, who also witnessed the incident, called it a “betrayal,” ABC 7 reported. “For him to lose his life at work, when he was there to provide services to patients, it’s just not right.”
“Alberto had so much more life to live. He was devoted to his patients. He loved his job. He was enthusiastic about what he did,” she continued.
Auble said that the victim “changed people’s lives,’ noting that “there are people alive today because of him,” she told KTVU. “He was just such a unique character.”
Some saw the attack on Rangel as predictable, including the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, which issued a scathing statement against the sheriff’s office.
“This was not a random, unforeseeable incident,” SFDSA President Ken Lambda said. “ZSFGH’s (Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital) own data shows years of serious assaults and weapons on campus. Deputies, nurses, and social workers told DPH that pulling deputies off high-risk units/posts and replacing them with unarmed cadets and distant response teams would get someone seriously hurt or killed. On December 4, that prediction came true.”
Meanwhile, the union that represented Rangel and his colleagues, University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) demanded a “thorough investigation” in a statement.
“We owe our colleague and friend more than grief. We owe them change, and will fight for it with everything we have,” UPTE President Dan Russell said.
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