Feelings, schedules return to normal change after stabbing suspect arrested

PHOTO: After the killing of two members of the Davis community, heightened feelings of anxiety were felt around town.

By Declan Fee and Lily Schroeder

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff––

After the first of three stabbings in Davis between April 27th and May 1st, of David Breaux, community members were saddened and disheartened. But after the second, of DHS alum Karim Abou Najm, fear became the primary emotion, and it became clear that routines must change.

These murders happened at night or very early in the morning and in public areas, increasing the anxiety of people who frequent these areas. Many parents gave their children earlier curfews and restricted them from going to certain areas.

Junior Monica Garibay hasn’t been going out with her friends at night since the stabbings started. “I’m just being more aware of my surroundings and making sure I’m safe,” Garibay said.

“(My parents) hope that I can go home quickly and don’t want me to go downtown or anywhere else,” sophomore Michelle Hsu said.

Sophomore Andres Eisen is already not going out much due to being on crutches, but even so, his parents had an earlier curfew for him. “My parents tell me (that) when I’m with friends to not go out too late… and stay out of trouble,” Eisen said.

Students with nighttime jobs were being extra vigilant. Senior Mick Dunning works at the downtown coffee shop Pachamama and saw an uptick in safety precautions.

“We were scheduling extra people to work with people that are closing at night and making sure no one is walking alone to their cars,” Dunning said.

Senior Marley Michel works at Swim America which is near the site of the stabbing on Monday night and was the next day. “Our employers sent out messages encouraging (the workers) to carpool with other employees so that we’re not coming to work by ourselves,” Michel said.

Heightened caution also contributed to a shelter-in-place at the DHS campus on the morning of May 2nd when three men were reported walking near campus, one suspected to be holding a knife. Police were called to the scene but no one was found that matched that description.

Senior Frankie Lanoue had not left yet for school when the shelter-in-place started and wasn’t comfortable going to school by herself even after it ended, so she ended up staying home for the day out of fear.

“I don’t really want to go anywhere alone or without someone knowing where I am going… or go out after dark,” Lanoue said.

But at a press conference on May 4th, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel announced that they had received a confession from a man that had previously been detained as a person of interest for these crimes.

As Pytel said the words, “Normal life will resume today,” a wave of relief swept over the Davis community. People could go back to their typical routines and living the lives they were before April 27th.

“Things at work have returned back to normal and I feel a lot safer working at night,” Dunning said.

Junior Evan Isidor and Senior Olivia Kim both live near Sycamore Parl, where the second stabbing occurred and the suspect was arrested. This made the situation a lot more intense for them, as they knew the violence was close to home.

“It happened right by my house, I literally walked outside in my pajamas and the guy was getting arrested. I feel a lot better now that they’ve caught him,” Isidor said.

Kim felt very nervous throughout the week, as her parents were out of town. “I was home alone that whole week so it was really scary when he was killing people so close to my house,” she said. “It was very relieving when he was caught because I could finally walk my dog in the park and leave my house at night without being afraid.”