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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Bevan Hurley

Bob Lee: Shocking video appears to show onlookers ignore dying Cash App founder as he begs for help

MobileCoin

Clutching one side of his body where he is bleeding heavily from stab wounds, tech executive Bob Lee appears to approach a parked car in urgent need of medical care.

The 43-year-old father of two lifts his shirt to show the driver the extent of his injuries, but rather than help, the motorist speeds off.

Lee’s last tragic moments as he stumbled down Main St in San Francisco’s downtown district at 2.30am on Tuesday in search of help were captured on surveillance footage and viewed by journalists from The San Francisco Standard.

He was discovered at 2.35am outside a luxury residential building on the 300 block of Main St, near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge.

The footage initially shows Lee walking along a deserted sidewalk on Main St with his mobile phone in one hand and holding his side with the other, The Standard reports.

The Cash App founder then crosses at the intersection with Harrison St toward where a white Toyota Camry with flashing lights is parked.

The footage reportedly shows Lee lift up his shirt in a plea for help, and then fall to the ground as the driver pulls away.

Lee then gets back to his feet and starts to retraces his steps along Main St in the direction of the Bay Bridge before collapsing again outside of the Portside apartment building at 403 Main St.

The Standard reported that it witnessed staff members cleaning what appeared to be blood from the side of the building on Wednesday.

Bob Lee pictured at the New York Stock Exchange in 2015 on the day that Square, now known as Block, listed as a public company (Facebook / Bob Lee)

San Francisco Police Department said in a statement that it found Lee with life-threatening injuries on the 300 block of Main St at 2.35am on Tuesday morning. He was treated at the scene but later died from his wounds in hospital.

Police are yet to make an arrest in the case or reveal if they have identified a suspect.

Lee’s father Rick Lee mourned the loss of his “best friend” in a tribute posted to Facebook on Wednesday.

Friends of Lee, who was known as “Crazy Bob”, have speculated that the killing was a random attack in a city where an increase in muggings and robberies led to the recall of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin last year.

Police are yet to say whether they believe it was a targeted killing.

The senseless murder has roiled San Francisco’s tech community, where Mr Lee was a well-known and popular figure due to his two decades of work at Google, as Square chief technology officer, as MobileCoin chief product officer and as an angel investor and serial entrepreneur.

Elon Musk called on San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins to take tougher action on repeat violent offenders after Mr Lee’s killing.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey said the murder was “heartbreaking”.

Ms Jenkins tweeted her “sincerest condolences” to Mr Lee’s grief-stricken family and friends.

“We do not tolerate these horrific acts of violence in San Francisco,” she added.

Responding to Mr Musk, she said: “No one who commits a violent crime, or who’s a repeat offender are receiving overly lenient plea deals.”

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