By KAREN VELIE

An assailant stabbed a 32-year-old man seven times near the Salinas riverbed in Paso Robles on Thursday evening.

A Walmart employee walked outside the Niblick Road store shortly after 10 p.m. to find Christopher Thatcher in the parking lot suffering from multiple stabs wounds, and a possible punctured lung. The employee then called 911.

Officers determined an assailant stabbed Thatcher in the back and torso at least seven times, and once in the head. He was transported to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo for emergency surgery.

Thatcher was unable to provide any information as to who assaulted him, why the assault occurred, or where it occurred. Officers tracked a blood trail toward the Salinas
riverbed area, but were unable to determine specifically where the assault occurred.

Thatcher is a homeless man who camps near the riverbed.

Investigators are asking anyone with information about this stabbing to call the Paso Robles Police Department at (805) 237-6464.