Homeless man beaten, stabbed during fight with group in Mission Beach park

A homeless man died early Wednesday after being beaten and stabbed during a fight with a group in a Mission Beach park, San Diego police said.

Someone called police shortly before 6:20 a.m. after finding the man’s body in Bonita Cove Park at the corner of West Mission Bay Drive and Mission Boulevard, police said.

Emergency crews located the victim with multiple injuries to his face and upper body, San Diego police Lt. Steve Shebloski said. The man died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Investigators are still working to determine what happened, but it appears the man got into a physical altercation with a group of five or six people in their late teens and early 20s hours before he was found, Shebloski said. The man was gravely injured in the fight.

Detectives are looking for surveillance video and witnesses who may be able to provide a more detailed account of what happened, the lieutenant said.

Anyone with information about the man’s death was asked to call the department’s homicide unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Staff Writer Lyndsay Winkley contributed to this report.