Oakland mass stabbing suspect was on parole after 2019 knifing spree
Jose Jesus Rodriguez, 34, allegedly killed a chef and stabbed four others in Oakland while on probation, despite repeated parole violations and official warnings.
Oakland stabbing suspect had six parole violations before deadly rampage
Jose Jesus Rodriguez, 34, was on probation when he allegedly killed a 58-year-old chef and stabbed four other people across East Oakland on Monday — despite a criminal record that included a prior stabbing spree, at least six parole violations, and a written warning from his own parole agent that he posed a "significant threat to the community," NY Post Metro reports.
Rodriguez had previously been convicted in February 2021 of assault with a deadly weapon following a 2019 incident in which he stabbed both an Uber driver and a garbage collector. He was sentenced to state prison at San Quentin. After his release, court records obtained by KTVU show he accumulated at least six parole violations. In June 2025, he was arrested again for assault and for violating a criminal protective order.
His parole agent documented the deteriorating situation in a report. "There are no programs to appropriately address Rodriguez's escalating behavior," the agent wrote, according to KTVU. "Rodriguez's recent behavior poses a significant threat to the community."
Despite those warnings, Rodriguez faced another criminal case later that year. In October 2025, he allegedly head-butted a police officer in Oakland and attempted to bite off the officer's ear, while also swinging a wooden board and injuring two women.
Plea deal kept him out of prison
Court records obtained by The California Post show Rodriguez pleaded no contest on December 16, 2025, to a lesser felony assault charge. Prosecutors had initially charged him with assault with a deadly weapon, battery causing serious bodily injury, and vandalism. The handwritten plea agreement called for two years of felony probation and completion of a 90-day residential program. It also imposed a no-weapons order and search conditions, with a warning that he could face a year in county jail if he failed to complete the program.
Rodriguez was formally placed on 24 months of probation on January 15 — roughly seven months before prosecutors say he carried out Monday's rampage.
It remains unclear why prosecutors agreed to reduce the charges, whether they sought incarceration, or how Rodriguez's previous serious felony conviction factored into the plea negotiations.
The attacks
Surveillance footage shows Rodriguez, wearing a white tank top, approaching his first victim, who attempts to back away before he repeatedly stabs her. The attacks spread across East Oakland. Transportation officers alerted city police to another stabbing near the Fruitvale BART station.
Prosecutors say the rampage began near Cesar Chavez Park, where officers found Gonsalo Lopez suffering from stab wounds to his torso. Lopez died at the scene. Four additional people were stabbed at three separate locations within roughly a mile, according to a police probable-cause declaration.
Lopez was a longtime chef who regularly brought meals to the park to feed the homeless, his son Kenny Romero told the Mercury News. On the night of the attack, Lopez had no food with him but had gone to visit people he knew there.
Physical evidence and surveillance video identified Rodriguez as the suspected attacker, police said. Bystanders directed officers to Rodriguez, who was allegedly carrying a knife before dropping the weapon and being taken into custody.
Charges and political reaction
Prosecutors have charged Rodriguez with murdering Lopez, four counts of attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon. The complaint filed Thursday alleges that his earlier 2021 conviction qualifies as a serious felony and a prior strike under California's Three Strikes law. Alameda County prosecutors also allege his previous convictions were numerous and of increasing seriousness.
"I am deeply saddened for the victims and their families who are suffering unimaginable pain and loss from this senseless act of violence," Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said in a statement.
Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for governor, used the case to criticize California's criminal justice system. "Californians are so sick of a system that constantly puts the interest of criminals and those who do the wrong thing over regular hardworking citizens who do the right thing," Hilton told The Post. "We've got to completely clear out the ideologies from our criminal justice system, the parole board, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and every other aspect of the courts."
Hilton added that authorities needed to "put in place common sense people who prioritize keeping communities safe instead of making endless excuses and coddling criminals."
The case has renewed scrutiny over how Rodriguez repeatedly returned to the streets despite a documented pattern of violent behavior and mounting official concern about the risk he posed to the public.
Source: NY Post Metro