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Man accused of stabbing 7-year-old neighbor arrested after Rancho Cordova standoff

Officials said the 7-year-old victim is expected to survive

Man accused of stabbing 7-year-old neighbor arrested after Rancho Cordova standoff

Officials said the 7-year-old victim is expected to survive

WORKING TO CATCH HIM. SO OFFICERS BREAK THE WINDOWS OF A UNIT AT THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX. AND FIRE LESS LETHAL SHOTS INSIDE. AND THEIR TARGET, A MAN ACCUSED OF STABBING A SEVEN YEAR OLD GIRL WHO THEN BARRICADED HIMSELF INSIDE HIS APARTMENT. THE MAN NOT RESPONDING TO THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, TRYING TO TALK TO HIM AND NEGOTIATE WITH HIM. IT WAS VIRTUALLY A ONE WAY CONVERSATION THE WHOLE TIME. HE NEVER ENGAGED. WE TRIED TEXT MESSAGES. WE TRIED PHONES. I MEAN, WE TRIED PA ANNOUNCEMENTS, DEPUTIES FIRST GOT CALLED OUT JUST AFTER 7:00 LAST NIGHT ON REPORTS OF A YOUNG GIRL GETTING STABBED IN A COMMON AREA OF THE APARTMENT AFTER SEVERAL HOURS OF TRYING TO GET THE MAN. OFFICERS FINALLY ARRESTED HIM THIS MORNING. AFTER FIRING MORE RUBBER BULLETS. THE GIRL LUCKILY, WILL BE OKAY. SHE’S GOING TO BE JUST FINE. UH, MIRACULOUSLY, YOU KNOW, NON-LIFE THREATENING. I’M REALLY EXCITED THAT SHE’S GOING TO BE OKAY. WENDY LOPEZ LIVES RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THE MAN ARRESTED FOR THE STABBING. SHE DID NOT WANT TO SHOW HER FACE, BUT SAYS SHE WAS ALWAYS CONCERNED ABOUT HER NEIGHBOR, BUT DIDN’T EXPECT SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HAPPEN. I’M GLAD THAT HE’S BEEN CAUGHT AND ARRESTED, AND MAYBE HE CAN GET THE HELP THAT HE NEEDS BECAUSE HE APPARENTLY NEEDS IT, LOPEZ SAYS. RESIDENTS OF ALL THE APARTMENTS NEAR THE MAN WERE TOLD TO STAY OUTSIDE BY THE TENNIS COURTS WHILE HE WAS STILL HOLED UP IN HIS UNIT. THE SWAT TEAM HAD COME INTO OUR APARTMENT AND PUT GINORMOUS HOLES IN OUR DAUGHTER’S WALLS, AND TO GET TO HIM FOLLOWING THE ARREST, THE APARTMENT COMPLEX IS NOW QUIET. BUT JUST AS THE BROKEN WINDOWS REMAIN, NEIGHBORS ARE STILL IN SHOCK. IT WAS VERY TRAUMATIZING. IT WAS CRAZY. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. AND WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE TO IDENTIFY THAT MAN. WHILE NEIGHBORS TELL US THAT THEY HAVE HAD PREVIOUS PROBLEMS WITH HIM, THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THAT THEY HAVE NOT HAD ANY PRIOR INTERACTIONS WITH HIM.
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Man accused of stabbing 7-year-old neighbor arrested after Rancho Cordova standoff

Officials said the 7-year-old victim is expected to survive

A 7-year-old girl was stabbed by a neighbor at a Rancho Cordova apartment complex Tuesday night, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.Deputies responded to the 2800 block of La Loma Drive around 7:15 p.m.Officials said the 7-year-old victim was stabbed in the back while in an outdoor common area of the apartment complex. She is expected to survive.The sheriff's office said the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Angelo Bagnas, is believed to have mental issues and barricaded himself in his apartment unit. Deputies spent several hours working to take Bagnas into custody. But despite multiple attempts to contact him, he did not respond to law enforcement officers."Trying to talk him, negotiate with him, it was virtually a one-way conversation the whole time. He never engaged. We tried text messages, we tried phones, we tried PA announcements. We tried face-to-face using that rook, bringing the deputies to a threshold to try to establish some face-to-face contact. None of that was effective," sheriff's office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said.Bagnas surrendered around 4:55 a.m. on Wednesday after deputies fired less lethal rounds at the man, officials said."He's hurt a seven-year-old girl, of all people, so again, this is not something we're going to mess around with. Again, the less lethal rounds is that next best option. They're bean bag rounds. It hurts. It's a pain compliance tool, but again, ultimately, it got us where we are, is with a surrender and him in handcuffs," Gandhi said.Sheriff's deputies evacuated the apartments surrounding Bagnas's unit during the standoff.Wendy Lopez lives next door to the man who was arrested. She said she was already outside when the girl who was stabbed came running toward her."She said the neighbor had stabbed her, and stabbed her right here in the back, so yeah, it was just like what's going on, what's going on, and then all the craziness started happening," Lopez said. "It was very traumatizing, it was crazy. It was absolutely crazy."Lopez said while Bagnas was still holed up inside his apartment, officers went into her unit to try and get him to come out."The SWAT team had come into our apartment and put ginormous holes in our daughter’s wall to get to him," Lopez said.Lopez told KCRA 3 that she had been concerned about her neighbor, but she added that she never expected that he could do something so violent."I'm glad that he's been caught and arrested, and maybe he can get the help that he needs because he apparently needs it," Lopez said. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.

A 7-year-old girl was stabbed by a neighbor at a Rancho Cordova apartment complex Tuesday night, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to the 2800 block of La Loma Drive around 7:15 p.m.

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Officials said the 7-year-old victim was stabbed in the back while in an outdoor common area of the apartment complex. She is expected to survive.

The sheriff's office said the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Angelo Bagnas, is believed to have mental issues and barricaded himself in his apartment unit.

angelo bagnas
Sacramento County Sheriff's Office
Angelo Bagnas

Deputies spent several hours working to take Bagnas into custody. But despite multiple attempts to contact him, he did not respond to law enforcement officers.

"Trying to talk him, negotiate with him, it was virtually a one-way conversation the whole time. He never engaged. We tried text messages, we tried phones, we tried PA announcements. We tried face-to-face using that rook, bringing the deputies to a threshold to try to establish some face-to-face contact. None of that was effective," sheriff's office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said.

Bagnas surrendered around 4:55 a.m. on Wednesday after deputies fired less lethal rounds at the man, officials said.

"He's hurt a seven-year-old girl, of all people, so again, this is not something we're going to mess around with. Again, the less lethal rounds is that next best option. They're bean bag rounds. It hurts. It's a pain compliance tool, but again, ultimately, it got us where we are, is with a surrender and him in handcuffs," Gandhi said.

Sheriff's deputies evacuated the apartments surrounding Bagnas's unit during the standoff.

Wendy Lopez lives next door to the man who was arrested. She said she was already outside when the girl who was stabbed came running toward her.

"She said the neighbor had stabbed her, and stabbed her right here in the back, so yeah, it was just like what's going on, what's going on, and then all the craziness started happening," Lopez said. "It was very traumatizing, it was crazy. It was absolutely crazy."

Lopez said while Bagnas was still holed up inside his apartment, officers went into her unit to try and get him to come out.

"The SWAT team had come into our apartment and put ginormous holes in our daughter’s wall to get to him," Lopez said.

Lopez told KCRA 3 that she had been concerned about her neighbor, but she added that she never expected that he could do something so violent.

"I'm glad that he's been caught and arrested, and maybe he can get the help that he needs because he apparently needs it," Lopez said.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.