Two men stabbed in Atwater. Police seeking the public’s help

Two men were stabbed around the same time early Tuesday in the same Atwater neighborhood, but investigators say it’s unclear whether they were injured during the same incident or in separate attacks.

A 36-year-old man suffered a head injury around 12:47 a.m. Tuesday while walking with his girlfriend in the area of Determine Drive and East Bellevue Road, Chief Samuel Joseph said in a statement.

The victim, who was flown to a Modesto hospital, told police he was on Determine Drive, near Swaps Street, when a man in a green Honda pulled up close to him. The driver, described only as an adult male, exchanged a few words with the victim and then got out of the vehicle and struck the victim on the head with “a large knife,” according to investigators.

The attacker left in the car headed in an unknown direction.

Joseph said investigators are hoping to uncover more information regarding the attack. He said investigators are working to determine whether the two men knew each other.

A short time later, at 1:39 a.m., officers received word from hospital staff at Mercy Medical Center that a second man arrived at the emergency room with stab wounds.

“We’re not sure if (the second man) was one of the people involved in the incident (on Determine) or whether they both were stabbed by (a third person),” Joseph said.

Updates on the conditions of both victims were not immediately available Tuesday.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Two men stabbed in Atwater. Police seeking the public’s help."