Woman working at gas station viciously attacked by knife-wielding man in Torrance

TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- A gas station attendant was brutally attacked and cut several times by a knife-wielding man in Torrance.

Darlecia D'Andrade fought back tears as she described the vicious attack that came without warning. She was stabbed in the face and body by the suspect.

"I was saying, why? I couldn't believe that this customer was attacking me," she said. "The minute I turned around he just struck me."

She was working as a clerk at the Mobil Station on Vermont Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard early Saturday morning, when a man came in and asked to use the bathroom.

He told her the toilet wasn't working and when she went to check, he attacked her.

"I felt my lip burning. I moved my hand and blood was just gushing everywhere, so he ran out," she said.

As she was bleeding profusely from her wounds, D'Andrade managed to walk outside and call her daughter. A customer arrived and called 911.

"My mom was screaming hysterically in the background," her daughter said.

Authorities are going over surveillance video, looking for clues to help them capture the suspect. D'Andrade cannot understand why she was attacked.

"No matter if you're homeless or if you're - whatever - I've always been there to talk and comfort and be there for others," she said.

She and her family want justice, but even though she's in a lot of pain, she is thinking about forgiveness.

"I just want to say to him, you know, I meant you no harm. I have to forgive you because of my belief in God," she said.