Police are looking for the man accused of stabbing a 77-year-old grandfather who was biking to work Thursday morning.
HOUSTON — The suspect in the cold-blooded stabbing of an elderly Houston man is still on the run, and police are asking for the public’s help to track him down.
Police released surveillance images on Friday of the man they believe killed 77-year-old Anival Patricio Elvir Ortiz as he rode his bike to work in east Houston. The suspect was spotted on a METRORail platform a few minutes after the stabbing.
Another video released on Thursday shows a man fitting the same description and wearing similar clothes appear to stab Ortiz in the back.
The attack happened around 5:45 a.m. on Thursday, August 7, on a bike trail along Harrisburg Boulevard.
Police said Ortiz continued riding to work for about 10 minutes, where he told co-workers a man had hit him in the back. He then collapsed and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“He might not have realized his injuries were so severe, and he just kept riding his bike,” HPD Sgt. Mark Holbrook said Thursday.
The victim’s family was devastated by the news.
“I was just crying, broke down, you know?; broke down,” grandson Josue Elvir told KHOU 11. “He’s an honest man, hard-working man, wakes up every time in the morning, goes to work. “He’s a loving father and grandpa.”
People on the Harrisburg trail told us they’ve seen the suspect in the area before.
One woman said she’s going to carry her gun on her nightly walk from now on.
“You have to look out for your surroundings, cause it could be anybody, and it’s frightening because it happened so early in the morning,” Dahlia Contreras said.
Despite his grief, Ortiz’s grandson said he will forgive the killer.
“I know he did something bad, but may God put a hand on his heart and forgive him, you know,” Elvir said. “You’ve got to forgive, you know?”
The family has a GoFundMe account to help with funeral expenses.
If you have any information about what happened, contact Houston police at 713-308-3600 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 713-222-8477.
See the video HPD released of who they say is the suspect: