The social worker who was stabbed repeatedly in the neck by a patient at San Francisco General Hospital on Thursday has succumbed to their injuries, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
The victim’s identity was not immediately released by the San Francisco medical examiner’s office, but they were in critical condition for about 48 hours and died on Saturday.
The alleged attacker, Wilfredo Tortolero Arriechi, was arrested by police officers following the stabbing. He was booked into jail at 10:47 p.m. on Dec. 4 on charges of murder, assault with a deadly weapon, use of a deadly weapon, and “mayhem.”
He is being held without the possibility of bail.
Tortolero Arriechi, 34, was known to hospital staff and a regular patient at Ward 86, the hospital’s HIV clinic, where the stabbing took place, according to an eyewitness to the stabbing. He was allegedly a known and feared presence at the clinic.
“This could have been avoided on so many fucking levels,” the eyewitness told Mission Local. “We knew three weeks ago about this patient.”
During an all-staff meeting for the Department of Public Health on Friday, San Francisco General Hospital CEO Susan Ehrlich called the incident “heartbreaking.” People are angry, she said, everyone is affected, and staff “want to do everything we can so it doesn’t happen again.”
A review of the incident was forthcoming, Erlich said at the meeting, and two of the hospital’s buildings would be shut down to a single entrance starting this weekend. A security guard would use a metal wand on those coming in. “We will make real, material changes in response” to the incident, she said, not only at San Francisco General but at community clinics, Laguna Honda, and other sites.
A sheriff’s deputy had already been assigned to protect a doctor at the ward at the time of the stabbing, according to the sheriff’s department.
But an eyewitness said the deputy was not focused on the alleged attacker when the man attacked the social worker. The eyewitness said they leaped in and pulled Tortolero Arriechi off of their colleague.
A sheriff’s spokesperson said the deputy “followed all required procedures,” and had been instructed to shadow the doctor rather than mind the patient who had made threats.
“He was onsite to ensure the doctor’s safety, remained on the Ward after an initial search for the subject, and when he heard a commotion in the hallway, immediately responded,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “Upon witnessing the assault in progress, he intervened without hesitation, detained the subject, and secured the scene. His quick actions allowed medical staff to begin life-saving measures for the victim without delay.”
The San Francisco Police Department’s homicide unit is leading the investigation into the stabbing. If deemed a homicide, it would be San Francisco’s 27th of the year, down from 33 homicides at this time last year, according to department crime data.
Additional reporting by Sara Miles
