Background: Footage from a news broadcast shows the El Flaco Event Center in New Braunfels, Texas, where the supposed confrontation occurred on August 17 (KENS). Inset (left): Rosanna Perez and Mario Saldana (from GoFundMe). Inset (right): David Saldana (as per Comal County Sheriff’s Office).
A Texas man died after he was allegedly stabbed to death while trying to break up fighting patrons at an event on Sunday, his wife said.
Rosanna Perez was at El Flaco Event Center in New Braunfels, Texas, with her husband, Mario Saldana, age 52, after midnight on Sunday. The couple observed a heated fight breaking out in the parking lot. Perez shared with the local CBS station KENS that she advised her husband to leave upon noticing the commotion. However, he insisted, “No, let me go tell these people to calm down, they need to stop.”
While Mario Saldana attempted to step in and “deescalate” the conflict, it is alleged that he was stabbed several times in the chest and back by 55-year-old David Saldana (unrelated).
The New Braunfels Police Department reported that officers showed up at 12:10 a.m. on Sunday in response to a “large disturbance” at the event venue, which involved “multiple individuals.” The victim, later identified as Mario Saldana, was discovered with stabbing injuries and received on-site treatment by paramedics before being transported to San Antonio Military Medical Center. Sadly, he was declared dead at the hospital.
Based on multiple witness accounts at the scene, police identified David Saldana as the suspect in the lethal stabbing. Police later located and arrested him at a residence in the same town without any complications. He faces a murder charge and remains in custody at the Comal County Jail with a bond set at $500,000.
According to police, there may be additional arrests and the investigation is ongoing.
Perez expressed to local ABC station KSAT regarding the alleged event, stating her husband “tried to separate people, and I guess they got angry.” She remarked, “This was something that didn’t need to happen.”
Mario Saldana’s family will be holding a plate sale in their neighborhood to help raise money for his funeral. Perez also set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the family in the wake of losing their “sole provider.”
