and he got out of the car and was bleeding all over and was like, "Oh my god, somebody please help me." I saw like blood or something red and then there's this lady talking to him. Tuesday, May 24th, 2024, St. Petersburg, Florida. Police received a call from administrators at an elementary school reporting that the father of one of their students was seriously injured. The situation was unclear and three patrol cars along with EMS units were dispatched to the scene to assist the victim immediately. But what exactly had happened? I'm Tyler and this is your daily dose of crime. So you got no medical history of the guy that left. Okay. Apparently super fighting and he stabbed a guy in the back. Do you have cameras over anywhere over here, man? Do me a favor. Go across the street and see if there's cameras. Yes, sir. Let me this car right here. Yeah. You got number. Oh, the wife. So, is is does he have a child here? So, who who got that tag number? Let me see. Somebody did a voice number. Yeah. It's like was a blue Honda and then it was like 0 0 and then there was an X in the last I couldn't get it all. Okay. And is it a blue Honda sedan or it was like a Civic? Civics. Which way did you see it go? He went that way. Inside a car parked in the school's lot, paramedics were treating a man with multiple injuries, including deep stab wounds. Officers began collecting statements and recording every detail that would help identify the suspect. It appeared that the driver of another vehicle responsible for the attack had fled the scene. But what was it all about? You saw portions of it, too, I'm assuming. Uh, I just saw from down here at the crosswalk. Let me get her out of that way. We can not cross the Where did this all happen? I think driving right that like that sign right now was probably here and this guy was trying to get over into the lane to turn. So then when I pulled up trying to get over here, the guy um in the blue car was blocking the lane. He was out of his car and this gentleman was pulling up. Where was that blockage? Right over here. Right at this. Okay. Yeah. So cuz that you can kind of come in like over turn off was over there. Um and then he was in front of me and then the gentleman in the other car pulled up. They were yelling at each other and then he gets out at the car and then the daughter comes out after the daughter comes out of which car of the blue car. Okay. Yeah. Um so he's yelling at this man then finally this man gets angry and he gets out. They start fighting and then the gentleman that came out of the the or the person that came out of that bar stabs him like twice in the back. The knife flew in the middle of the street but that's when the daughter came out and tried to like stop him. Okay. Um, is the knife still? No, I I looked when I came over. It was just a hockey knife. So, where was the knife at? It was in the middle of the road over there, like right at the front of the red light. Yep. Okay. So, when you're saying when the cars are coming in, our cars coming in through this, you see this roadway right here? Outside on the main street. Okay. So, this all happened basically on the Where did they fight at? Oh, they fought right here at the red light. The red light. So, making that turn? Yep. So, he was in front of me to turn in hand and then the other guy was in the one. Okay. So, cuz there's only one turning lane, right? Which is going to be his car in front of you. So, the other guy pulled up next to him on the right side. On the right side. Okay. How old is his daughter? Um, she's probably nine or 10. Okay. Do you know who's her teacher or anything like that? No. Okay. So, yeah, like I don't know if they have cameras through this line, but he had to come in through here to get her. So, she goes to somewhere this way. Yeah. Yep. They all come out here. So he had to drive through this way to pick her up. So if they have cameras where? Yeah. Accident right out here. He must have came out this way and then this gentleman was coming to try to cut in and they they hit at that and then came back. Now on this blue Civic, do you think it's like a newer model or like an older model? It's not It's definitely not a newer model. I would say probably like five or 6 years older. Okay. And is it What kind of blue is it? It's like um the that shiny like deep royal blue. Royal blue. Mhm. Now, when you talk about royal blue, it's like a bright blue color, right? Yeah. Okay. Uh, two doors or four doors? Um, I believe it was four doors. It was kind of like a hat. Okay. But it was blue Civic and any stands out about the car itself. No, I didn't see the mark like from when he had hit him. I I didn't really know what was going on, but this guy in this car said that the other guy hit his car and that's why they started. A witness explained what had happened. The victim was trying to turn onto the avenue when the driver of a blue Honda had blocked his path and an argument broke out between them. According to the witness, the situation would escalate quickly. Both men got out of their vehicles and began fighting. And the attacker's daughter even got out of the car in an attempt to break up the fight. The situation was serious. How would the officers respond? Uh, what's your position here? I'm a speech language pathologist. Okay. Okay. What did you see? Um we were working at the crosswalk with the kids and noticed two gentlemen get out of their vehicles at the light start fighting fighting each other. Um gentlemen left threw the this guy down. Mhm. Um they were couldn't see. I'm assuming that's when he did some sort of stabbing or something because then that guy took off. He pulled in here and that other witness followed and he got out of the car and was bleeding all over and was like, "Oh my god, somebody please help me." Gotcha. Okay. So, everything happened in that intersection over there. Everything pretty much was there and he just kind of came here. They were both fighting. When you saw it, they were both engaging fighting. The other guy seemed to be more engaging it. I didn't witness who, but they were yelling at each other than they started. Okay. So, I'm assuming it was a road rage kind of thing, but All right. And do you recognize the guy that left the scene? Um the guy that I just noticed that he was black. He's probably in between our heights. Okay. Um and there was a child with him. Okay. Was a child. Um I don't think she was a student of our school. And the reason I say that is because she didn't have our uniform on. Did not have the did not I thought she had on a tan bottom and we have navy bottoms. So I didn't think she went What did the child look like? Uh thin darkhaired white female. Uh, she's probably mixed. She's probably mixed. Um, yeah, she wasn't dark. He was not too dark, but dark skin, mixed female. She had ponytails or braids or, you know, little twisted. Her hair was up and Okay. And dark hair. Yeah. If I was going to guess third grade, fourth grade maybe. Okay. And you said that she wasn't wearing uniform from here. That's why she was from here. What was she wearing? It looked like tan skirt, I want to say. Mhm. And I don't it was a dark color top, but I don't know if it was navy or purple or Yeah, she actually tried to get involved. Like I saw her go like this. She actually was I don't know what was going on in that turn. Another witness stated that she had been crossing at the crosswalk when the fight broke out. She said the two men had been physically fighting when the victim threw the suspect to the ground and at which point the suspect then stabbed him. Based on statements, it would seem the altercation had began over a minor car accident and then escalated quickly. So basically what what's happened, he usually comes and picks me up and then um I saw like blood something red and then there was this lady talking to him and then I ran over there cuz I saw him cuz that's what I usually do and then um he told me to put pressure on him and then that's basically it and then they put they put me in the school. Okay. So you weren't in the car when it happened? Yeah, I wasn't in the car. So when you walked up out of school, was he inside his car or outside his car? He was outside of his car standing right next to it and then he he wanted to try try and drive but um my principal said no don't don't try and drive. Okay. So your principal was with you when you found him. Yeah. He walked over with me. Um and before you got out of school, you didn't know anything happened, right? I didn't. Um where was the injuries at on his body? Um it I think it was either on this side or this side, but he had like he had like cuts all right here. Okay. Um was there anybody else in the car with him other than the dog? No, that was it. Just the dog. Okay. So, your dad was standing outside the car door. Was a car door open when you got there? Do you know it was? Um, and he wanted to try and drive home, huh? Yeah. In her statement, the victim's daughter said her father arrived at the school injured with blood stains on his clothing in order to pick her up and then asked for help. She stated that he even tried to drive despite his injuries. But the school principal saw the condition and stopped him from leaving. The most troubling part of everything was the question, how had adults allowed children to witness something like this. Hey, Jose. I'll talk to him. Uh he said um you talk here or over there. Okay. If you would we'll give you a ride. We talk at the station. We do all our interviews at the station. No. Yeah. He said need to bring anything. No. Okay. Okay. I'll follow you guys. Put another [Music] after gathering information from witness statements and reviewing footage from security cameras, police were able to identify the suspect and locate his residence. It was there that they were met by Joseé O'Neal. With the assistance of a Spanish-speaking officer, authorities informed him that he would be taken to the station to provide a statement, but he had no idea what was truly waiting for him. Okay. Uh again, Maria, I'm Detective Long. This is Detective Talbet, and Alahad is uh translating for us. Okay. Uh can you tell us about what happened today in the car outside the school? So her her husband was u exiting her school to enter the avenue. The guy kind of just caught across from him and made his her husband collide with the other vehicle. She said the other guy started she said she doesn't know English but the other guys of course she couldn't understand was talking bad stuff to her husband. Okay. say something about the words like I'm going to I'm going to kill him like threaten him. Okay. Okay. So, he took the turn like like he was going turning you and they weren't going like going straight and their light was trash. Then he just kept talking to her husband and making threats to them. She said the officer that was crossing the case. So what? Well, so like the the crows guard lady, she she found the officer was looking at the other guy like kind of give him the look like, "Hey, there's people here." And um and then that's when he opened the door and like kind of like threat her husband to like to give him like a like pretty much like like bodily harm like so the car the guy put the car in parking and got out the car and that's when her husband came out. Yeah. So she um so that's when he got out the car, but he has she she didn't explain what, but she was like he had that thing on his hand because of the thread that was made towards him. What was the thing? She said like a blame, but she doesn't know. She she blocked herself when they were like already going back and forth cuz she suffered from like nerations. Okay. According to statements from O'Neal's wife, the victim had insulted her husband with racist remarks and had also threatened to kill him. The situation was concerning, especially since the woman also seemed unaware of the severity of what had taken place. A fight that had ended with a man hospitalized in a serious condition. Jose Raphael O'Neal, aged 34, would be arrested on charges of firstdegree attempted murder and booked into the Penllis County Jail. A prison sentence was expected and the length of which would depend on the circumstances of his crime and his prior criminal