SALEM, Ore. — A dozen people were injured in a stabbing attack at an Oregon homeless shelter on Sunday night, and a suspect was arrested, police said.
A man with an eight-inch (20-cm) knife walked into the lobby of the Union Gospel Mission in Salem around 7:15 p.m., the Salem Police Department said on Monday. The man had been talking to people in the lobby when he allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed several people, according to police.
Other people in the vicinity were hurt when they tried to intervene, police said. The man then left the building and stabbed others who were nearby, sitting outside.
Police arrested a suspect identified as Tony Williams, 42, across the street from the shelter.
Eleven victims, including two shelter staff members, were taken to a hospital for treatment and a 12th victim was identified as officers interviewed witnesses. Police said the victims suffered “varying types of injuries.” All of the injured were men between the ages of 26 and 57, police said.
Five people remained hospitalized Monday with serious injuries.
Police haven’t specified a motive for the stabbings, but said it didn’t seem targeted at people who are homeless.
Craig Smith, the shelter’s executive director, said in an online statement that the two staff members were among those still hospitalized on Monday.
“As you can imagine, our guests and staff are shaken up and grieving,” the statement said. “Already we are in conversation and meetings with staff and guests to discuss safety improvements, to the best of our ability, moving forward.”
Williams was traveling by bus from Portland to Deschutes County when he got off in Salem on Saturday, according to Salem Police Violent Crimes Unit detectives. He visited the shelter on Saturday but didn’t stay overnight, shelter officials said. The next night, Williams arrived at the shelter shortly before the call for police assistance.
“I’m in disbelief that something like this could happen. We are most concerned with those who are still in hospital and for those who were just there. It’s a difficult thing to process,” Salem Mayor Julie Hoy said.
Bobby Epperly was on the second floor when he said he saw the man screaming outside at traffic and holding a knife, the Salem Statesman Journal reported.
“It’s like a horror movie,” Epperly said. He said he didn’t realize some people had already been stabbed inside the building until he went downstairs and saw “blood everywhere.”
Up to 150 men seek refuge at the shelter each night, according to its website.
Caleb Rennie, 19, was driving that stretch of road as he does every day and saw the arrest in progress so started recording it with his cellphone.
“Two cops had their guns drawn when they were running across the street, so that kind of helped me understand the gravity of the situation and that’s also why I started recording,” Rennie said.
His video appears to show a man facedown on the ground as two police officers approach the man with guns and then put what look like handcuffs around his wrists. People out of view can be heard yelling expletives and another man approaches with what appears to be a crutch or walking stick and is told to back up.
“Never have I ever seen anything like that before,” on that street, he said.
Alan Humphreys, 67, was outside the shelter when the man with the knife came outside and started stabbing people who he said he later saw lying on the ground “bleeding bad.”
“It was really serious last night, I mean really serious,” Humphreys said. “I’m just glad it’s all over with now.”
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AP journalist Lisa Baumann contributed to this story from Bellingham, Washington.