A 64-year-old man is in critical but stable condition after he was beaten by another man wielding a baseball bat in a seemingly random attack, police in Delaware said.
The New Castle County Police Department in Wilmington was called around 6:30 a.m. Monday to an assault at a bus stop near the Lighthouse Hill apartment complex. When officers arrived, they found the victim suffering from “multiple injuries to the upper body,” the agency said in a press release.
Witnesses said the suspect beat the victim with a baseball bat before running away. Police found the alleged attacker, identified as 29-year-old Rafael Murillo, nearby and arrested him. Officers also found the baseball bat. Paramedics took the victim to the hospital.
Murillo is facing charges of attempted murder and possession of a deadly weapon. He’s at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $90,000 cash bail.
Rafael Murillo, inset, is accused of beating a 64-year-old man with a baseball bat at a Wilmington, Delaware, bus stop. The victim is listed in critical condition. (Mug shot: New Castle County Police; Bus stop: Google Maps)
Neighbors who live nearby told local ABC affiliate WPVI they heard all the commotion but didn’t see what happened.
“I heard when the ambulance came and I got up and looked out the window and I said, ‘Something’s happened at the bus stop,”” Sandra Hartwell told the station. “It was shocking to me, because like I said I’ve been here since 1981 on this corner, and ain’t nothing ever happened down here.”
Neighbor Virginia Daniels told the outlet she has lived at the apartment complex for 20 years and described the neighborhood as tight-knit.
“It was kind of horrible,” Daniels said. “We was scared and stuff. You know, didn’t know what was going on.”
The incident remains under investigation.
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