Police are investigating the brutal stabbing of a 38-year-old man in the 700 block of Thompson Drive in Brentwood Sept. 3, and officials are saying they now believe the victim and perpetrator knew one another.

“What I can tell you is that our detectives are continuing to investigate strong leads, and in those leads there is a strong suggestion that the suspect or suspects are known to the victim,” said Brentwood Detective Sgt. Mark Misquez, who added that the victim was not a resident of the neighborhood.

Police were called to the scene at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, when the victim showed up on the doorstep of a neighbor’s house. The man, whose name is being withheld because of the violent nature of the crime, had received blunt force trauma to the head and face as well as multiple stab wounds to the lower body. He was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center, where he remains in stable condition.

The incident has renewed the fears of some of the neighborhood’s residents, who say they have grown increasingly worried over what they suspect are illegal activities at the home where the assault might have taken place.

Misquez declined to discuss a possible motive for the crime, but said the area is familiar to the police department: “I have had contact with residents near where it (crime) happened and they are known to police. But we want the public to know that because of the extreme violence of the act, it is our very strong suspicion that it was an isolated incident. We’re continuing to investigate any and all potential leads.”

Those with information on the crime should contact Detective David Schroer at 925-634-6911.