Slain Cash App Founder Bob Lee Screamed For 'Help' In 911 Call After Stabbing

With his cell phone in one hand and his side in the other, tech entrepreneur Bob Lee walked up a deserted San Francisco Street in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

Lee, 43, MobileCoin's chief product officer, was taken to the hospital where he later died.

He was stabbed twice in the torso, according to the police.

His death has led to a wave of anger from the tech sector regarding San Francisco's public safety situation, The San Francisco Standard reported.

"Help!" he screamed into his phone. "Someone stabbed me."

According to recordings and security video seen only by The Standard, those were some of the last words Lee spoke on a 911 call before collapsing on a Rincon Hill sidewalk.

The Standard has pieced together new information about Lee's final hours despite the police providing few specifics about the stabbing, including whether they think it was random or targeted.

The Standard has examined surveillance footage that reveals Lee, who had already been stabbed, leaving the Bay Bridge at around 2:30 in the morning by walking up Main Street.

Lee crosses Harrison Street at the junction and approaches a white Camry that is parked there with its hazard lights flashing.

The video then shows Lee lift his shirt, seemingly to show the driver his injury and request assistance, before falling to the ground as the vehicle pulls away.

According to surveillance video and documents privately reviewed by The Standard, those were some of the last words Lee spoke on a 911 call before passing out on a Rincon Hill sidewalk.

He stands up and makes his way back toward the Bay Bridge before crashing to the ground once more in front of the Portside.

According to the records examined by The Standard, at some time Lee called 911 and repeatedly screamed for help while claiming he needed to go to the hospital. Police showed up on the site less than six minutes after Lee's call at 2:34 a.m.

Lee was discovered on the ground unconscious, according to the authorities.

The Standard observed workers on Wednesday morning removing what appeared to be blood from the wall and pavement outside the structure where Lee passed out.

From under the Bay Bridge up the walkway toward Harrison Street, a blood trail could be seen on the other side of the street.

There have been no suspects or captures reported by the police.

SFPD Chief Bill Scott refrained from stating whether the stabbing was random in his initial remarks to the public regarding the death.

"I have nothing to share yet," Scott said at a Police Commission meeting on Wednesday evening. "We don't want to be premature and definitely we don't want to speculate so we are going to be thoughtful about following the evidence and we'll put out what we'll put out as soon as we can."

In a later statement, Scott added: "I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Mr. Lee. There is no place for this kind of violent crime against anyone in our city. I want to assure everyone that our investigators are working tirelessly to make an arrest and bring justice to Mr. Lee and his loved ones, just as we try to do on every homicide that occurs in our city."

The East Cut community, which is also known as where the stabbing occurred, has a reputation for being a safe area.

"Both the reality and the feel of the neighborhood is the East Cut is very safe," said Andrew Robinson, who heads the East Cut Community Benefit District. "So the shock and the unease for people is pretty significant."

Lee, a father and an integral member of the Bay Area's software development scene, had just relocated to Miami.

He created Square's Cash App in 2011 and was the company's first CTO. (formerly called Square Cash).

"I just lost my best friend," Rick Lee, Lee's father, wrote in a Facebook obituary on Wednesday. "Bobby worked harder than anyone and was the smartest person I have ever known," he added.

Lee was appointed chief product officer of MobileCoin, a San Francisco-based provider of cryptocurrency payments, in 2021.