UPDATED MONDAY 12:04PM | Long Beach Police Department announced Monday that it has made an arrest in the stabbing death of 24 year-old Raul Sanchez. LBPD statement is below:

On Sunday, August 18, 2013, at approximately 12:00 p.m., 43-year-old Francisco Javier Gaytan of Wilmington, was arrested in Wilmington in connection with the murder.  He was booked for murder and is being held at the LB City Jail on $1,000,000 bail. The investigation revealed that Suspect Gaytan and Victim Sanchez had been involved in a physcial fight when the stabbing occurred.  Detectives will be presenting the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office tomorrow, August 20, 2013.

ORIGINAL MONDAY 10:47AM | Long Beach police were seeking the public’s help this weekend in investigating the Friday night stabbing death of a 24 year-old Long Beach resident. The victim Raul Sanchez was found deceased on the sidewalk in the 400 block of Daisy Ave. at around 6:25PM Friday night.

Police say Sanchez was involved in a physical altercation with an unknown person or persons before the stabbing and that the murder is being investigated as gang-related. 

The stabbing ocurred just a few blocks away from the area of 8th St. and Daisy Ave., adjacent to historic Drake Park, where gang-related gunfire has been on the rise since earlier this year. In March, the area became a hotspot after a double shooting left one dead and, later that week, an officer was shot at by a suspected gang member who was later arrested in Wilmington.

Shots were reported fired in the area as recently as last Monday, though no evidence of shootings could be found by arriving officers.  

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Todd Johnson and Roger Zottneck at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or visiting http://www.lacrimestoppers.org/. 

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