Giants Fan Injured in Attack Fighting for His Life
Bryan Stow, a paramedic from Santa Cruz, is in a medically induced coma after beating outside Dodger Stadium
A San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten by two men in Los Angeles Dodgers gear after the baseball season's opening game Thursday was placed into a medically induced coma and went into surgery Friday evening to alleviate brain swelling.
Bryan Stow, 41, a paramedic and father of two who lives in Santa Cruz, was seriously injured outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles Thursday night when two men, who still haven’t been identified, attacked him.
Police were still looking for the attackers, described as two men in their 20s, Friday evening.
“I’m so angry right now. Bryan’s fighting for his life. These people don’t deserve to be walking around. No way,” said David Collins, Stow’s brother-in-law, as he waited for news of Stow’s surgery. “The ballpark should be somewhere safe where you can go and enjoy the game, whether or not your home team wins or loses. And in this case, the Giants lost.”
Stow and three friends, who also worked at American Medical Response in San Mateo, were walking to their car at about 8:30 p.m., after the Dodgers’ victorious opening game, when the two men began to heckle them, Collins said. (Police initially said that Stow had been accompanied by only two friends.)
“They were minding their own business,” Collins said. “Believe me, Bryan and his friends, they’re not ones to turn around and give them the finger.”
Dressed in full Giants regalia, the foursome was not surprised to be heckled. They ignored the two men, but the rival fans would not leave them alone.
"Fuck the Giants!" they shouted, according to detective P.J. Morris of the Los Angeles Police Department. "Get the fuck out of here!"
As the parking lot flooded with people emerging from the stadium, the three tried to distance themselves from the two Dodgers fans by separating and walking quickly through the crowd. But Morris said the attackers caught up to Stow and punched him in the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground, where they proceeded to beat him.
“They were just going to town on him, kicking him in the head, torso and just pummeling him,” Collins said. “He was rendered unconscious immediately.”
Collins said the friends tried to push through the crowd to aid Stow. Then the assailants fled on foot. Police said surveillance videos did not show details of the attack, but some witnesses may have seen the two get into a car.
After the attack, the parking lot's notoriously long post-game traffic jam delayed the arrival of an ambulance. Bicycle paramedics treated Stow before he was taken to a nearby hospital, where friends and family remained hopeful Friday that he would recover.
At first, Collins said Stow was awake and responded to commands but couldn’t speak. As his brain continued to swell, his condition worsened, and doctors placed him in an induced coma. They planned to cut out some of his skull Friday to relieve the pressure.
A charismatic ladies' man, Stow is also a long-standing Giants fan, Collins said. He is a season ticket holder and often takes his children, ages 6 and 11, to games.
He prides himself in his occupation; as a paramedic, he saves peoples’ lives.
“Now here he is fighting for his," Collins said.







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