A shocking video shows an 83-year-old Florida man stabbing a worker outside his senior living apartment following a heated argument over a failed inspection.
John Gula was charged with second-degree attempted murder after allegedly attacking Amelia Sola Ortiz, the property manager of Rebecca Towers in Miami Beach, with a knife on Aug. 4, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Post.
Police found Ortiz on the floor, unresponsive and bleeding heavily from her head and chest, before locating Gula hiding inside his girlfriend’s apartment.
John Gula allegedly held a knife during a stabbing incident at Rebecca Towers in Miami Beach, Florida, on Aug. 4, 2025.
According to court documents, Ortiz was stabbed in the torso and suffered a laceration to the back of her head during the assault.
The property manager had gone to the 10th floor of the high-rise to confront Gula about a recently failed inspection and the “state of his apartment” when she saw the elderly man entering an elevator.
Surveillance footage obtained by NBC 6 South Florida shows Gula speaking with Ortiz and his girlfriend, Rosinda Arellana, in a hallway before disappearing into a room. He then allegedly dropped items in his hands, pulled out a foldable pocket knife, and lunged at Ortiz.
The two struggled in the hallway, during which Ortiz managed to disarm Gula by throwing the knife down the hall, moments before she began bleeding heavily from her chest and head.
“Amelia Sola Ortiz struggles with John Gula and Rosinda Arellana over the knife after being stabbed in the attack.”
John Gula was charged with second-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the Aug. 4 assault.
During the incident, Gula allegedly produced a second collapsible knife and tried to lunge at Ortiz again, but was restrained by his girlfriend, Rosinda Arellana.
The wounded property manager tried to flee, but Gula held onto her tightly until Arellana intervened and pulled him away. Ortiz managed to hobble from the scene, clutching her chest as blood poured from her wounds, crying for help.
“Help me, help me,” a witness recalled Ortiz saying, according to police. She eventually reached another apartment in the 13-story building, where she collapsed on the floor.
First responders rushed Ortiz to Ryder Trauma Hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, Gula took the elevator to the seventh floor and entered Arellana’s apartment. Police later used CCTV footage to track him there, finding him leaving a bathroom wearing blood-stained shoes.
Blood ran down Ortiz’s face as she struggled to escape the grip of the elderly resident.
John Gula was charged with one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon. He has invoked his Fifth Amendment right and has not spoken to investigators since his arrest, according to the affidavit.
Gula is being held without bail at the Metrowest Detention Center in Doral, Florida. His next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20.
“This appears to be an isolated incident between the property manager, who’s the victim, and a resident, who’s the offender, over a property dispute,” said Miami Beach Police spokesperson Christopher Bess to WSVN. “It escalated, and unfortunately, the property manager was stabbed.”
