SURPRISE, Ariz. – A man in Surprise is fighting for his life following a stabbing in a shopping center parking lot this afternoon. 

Police say it started out as a fight between two men near Reems Road and Grand Avenue. 

There were several witnesses who saw the fight, many of them jumped in to break the fight up. 

They also held the suspect down until the police could get there. 

Witnesses share what they saw

What they’re saying:

“I’ve actually known him for quite a while,” said Ron Fritz. 

Fritz works at a counseling center and says he spoke with the suspect twice today before the stabbing. 

“He was very depressed and said he had not eaten in several days,” said Fritz. “He did not have a home and he did not know how to get back on his feet.” 

To help the man out, Fritz gave him food. 

The backstory:

“I bought him lunch at 1 o’clock. This happened around 2:30,” he said. 

From the window of his office, Fritz saw the fight break out and immediately called the police. 

“It’s just strange. You don’t expect in the middle of the day something like this to happen,” said Marina Portillo. 

Portillo owns a business a few doors down from where the fight happened. She recognized the suspect because she said he used to work at a restaurant in the same shopping center. 

“He seems very nice, I mean it’s just hi and hi,” she said. 

She says right before the fight, the suspect was pacing up and down the parking lot. 

“We heard bunch of commotion and when me and my employees went outside, there was a guy on the ground bleeding out,” she said. 

Police open investigation

What we know:

Surprise Police say the victim and suspect are men between the ages of 20 and 30 and knew one another. 

“When our first officers arrived, yes in fact citizens were actively playing a role in detaining the suspect.” 

The suspect was taken into custody and police are still investigating what led up to the altercation.