Man attacks couple with hatchet in Escondido

A man who allegedly used a hatchet to attack a 21-year- old woman and critically injure her boyfriend Thursday in Escondido was arrested, police said.

Gamalier Rivera, 33, is accused of attacking the two around 1:15 a.m. at a house in the 800 block of South Upas Street, according to Escondido police. Both victims were taken to Palomar Medical Center, where the man was in critical condition with wounds to his neck and torso, police said. The woman was treated and released for injuries to her legs.

Cassandra Bollas, who told The San Diego Union-Tribune she is the woman’s sister, said her sister rented a room at the house where the attack took place and that she and her boyfriend worked as nurses.

“She is in complete shock,” Bollas said, adding that her sister described the attack as like something out of horror movie, with blood all over the room.

Rivera, who was found covered in blood near the crime scene, works for the U.S. Border Patrol, but police did not say in what capacity. He was also taken to Palomar Medical Center, but the cause and extent of his injuries were not immediately revealed.

Other people were in the home at the time of the attack, but no one else was injured.

Police did not provide a motive for the attack or say if the suspect and victims knew each other.

Bollas said her sister did not know Rivera.

Tags: Escondido, hatchet, Palomar Medical Center, SDNN

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