Man stabbed to death outside Midway District McDonald’s

A stabbing outside a McDonald’s in the Midway District left a man dead Aug. 30.

Investigators determined the man had ridden his bicycle to the fast-food restaurant in the 3800 block of Midway Drive and was in the parking lot when an assailant arrived in a light-colored minivan shortly before 11:30 a.m., got out and immediately attacked the victim, according to the San Diego Police Department.

The attacker chased the victim in circles, stabbing at him repeatedly with what appeared to be a knife, SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell said.

Meanwhile, a second person in the minivan drove the vehicle around the lot with the sliding door open, Campbell said. The attack lasted about 30 seconds, then the assailant got back in the van and it drove away, headed west on Midway Drive, Campbell said.

Detailed descriptions of the attacker and the driver were not immediately available.

Patrol officers and witnesses provided first aid to the wounded man before paramedics arrived, and he was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, where he was pronounced dead. The identity of the victim, believed to be in his mid-30s, was not immediately available.

The circumstances that led to the stabbing were unknown, Campbell said. “It think it’s too early to speculate, although it really does seem like there was something ... [that] led up to this,” he said.

He noted there are several surveillance cameras in the busy area that may have captured images of the attack.

“I’m pretty confident there’s going to be video,” Campbell said.

— The San Diego Union-Tribune contributed to this report.