Ex-worker goes back to restaurant and stabs employee with cleaver, CA cops say

A former restaurant employee went back to his old job and stabbed a worker in the head with a cleaver, California police said.

On May 7, Santa Rosa police got reports of a stabbing, and when they arrived at the restaurant, they found the 43-year-old victim with “severe head and arm injuries,” the police department said on Facebook.

He was transported to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition as of May 7, police said.

The suspect, later identified by witnesses as 39-year-old Li Zhiqing, stabbed the employee before threatening other staff members, police said.

He fled on foot before being arrested at a park in the area, the release said.

He was arrested on charges of attempted murder, criminal threats, and mayhem, officers said.

Officers didn’t specify what led to the attack.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police through their online tip line at www.srcity.org/CrimeTips.

Santa Rosa is about a 60-mile drive northwest from San Francisco.

This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Ex-worker goes back to restaurant and stabs employee with cleaver, CA cops say."