Firefighter Stabbed While Treating Patient; Suspect On The Loose

A city firefighter was stabbed today while treating a patient in downtown Los Angeles, prompting an intensive police search for the assailant.

The firefighter was expected to survive.

ABC7 identified the firefighter as Charles McDougal, a nine-year veteran of the city Fire Department. The station reported that McDougal was stabbed four times in the chest and elbow, although the Los Angeles Times reported he was stabbed in a thigh.

The stabbing occurred around 10:50 a.m. in the 600 block of South Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The suspect fled into the Hotel Cecil, 636 S. Main St., and police moved inside and were searching the building floor by floor. It was unclear exactly where the stabbing occurred.

“The officers got on scene, met with some of the fire department personnel and determined that there was a stabbing of one of the firefighters somewhere inside of the location, possibly,” LAPD Capt. Todd Chamberlain said around 1 p.m. “At that time, the location was kind of — we contained it. A perimeter was established around the structure and a systematic search is under way at this time.”

LAPD Sgt. Daniel Widman described the suspect as a man in his 30s with a dark complexion and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.

Main Street was closed between Sixth and Seventh streets while the search continued.