Background: News footage of the event center in New Braunfels, Texas, where the alleged altercation took place on Aug. 17 (KENS). Inset (left): Rosanna Perez and Mario Saldana (GoFundMe). Inset (right): David Saldana (Comal County Sheriff”s Office).
A Texas man died after he was allegedly stabbed to death while trying to break up fighting patrons at an event on Sunday, his wife said.
Rosanna Perez was at the El Flaco Event Center in New Braunfels, Texas, after midnight on Sunday with her husband, 52-year-old Mario Saldana, when the couple saw a fight heating up in the parking lot outside. Perez told local CBS affiliate KENS that when her husband saw what was going on, she told him that they should leave. But he told her, “No, let me go tell these people to calm down, they need to stop.”
As Mario Saldana attempted to intervene and “deescalate” the situation, he was allegedly stabbed multiple times by 55-year-old David Saldana (no relation) in the chest and back.
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According to the New Braunfels Police Department, officers responded to a “large disturbance” at the event center that involved “multiple individuals” at 12:10 a.m. on Sunday. One victim, later identified as Mario Saldana, was found with a stab wound and treated by paramedics at the scene before he was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police were able to identify David Saldana as their suspect in the fatal stabbing after speaking to several witnesses at the scene. David Saldana was later located at a home in the same town and arrested without incident. He was charged with murder and booked into the Comal County Jail, where he is being held on $500,000 bond.
According to police, there may be additional arrests and the investigation is ongoing.
Perez also spoke to local ABC affiliate KSAT about the alleged incident, saying that her husband “tried to separate people, and I guess they got angry.” She added, “This was something that didn’t need to happen.”
Mario Saldana’s family will be holding a plate sale in their neighborhood to help raise money for his funeral. Perez also set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the family in the wake of losing their “sole provider.”
