A man was in custody Monday after allegedly stabbing 12 people, including staffers and bystanders who intervened, at an Oregon homeless services provider, police said.
Five of the victims remained hospitalized in critical condition on Monday following the attack in Salem shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, Salem Police Deputy Chief Treven Upkes said at a news conference. The rest had non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
The victims included two employees of the provider, Union Gospel Mission, and 10 people described as guests of the facility, Upkes said.
Police initially said 11 people had been injured in the attack, but on Monday the Salem Police Department said an additional victim was discovered as investigators interviewed witnesses.
Union Gospel Mission Executive Director Craig Smith said one of the two staff members was one of the patients in critical condition. He said the staffer underwent surgery. "He is now fighting for his life," Smith said.
A spokesperson for Salem Hospital said Monday that 11 of the 12 victims arrived at the facility, which added additional staff to treat them.
The suspect, seen on video surrendering to officers after the violence, was identified as Tony Latrell Williams, 42, of Bend, Oregon, Salem police said in a statement.
Williams was jailed Sunday, with no bail, on preliminary charges of second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated harassment, according to Marion County Jail records. The Marion County District Attorney's Office will determine whether to move forward and, if so, what charges apply.
It wasn't clear if Williams has retained a lawyer for the case. The Marion County public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The incident took place at the Union Gospel Mission's 50,000-square-foot Men’s Mission, which opened in 2021 a few blocks north of the mission's old, circa-1960s facilities, according to the organization. It's across the street from the Salem Police Department.
Upkes said the suspect arrived in Salem on Saturday after taking a bus from Portland.
Smith said in a late-night phone interview Sunday that the attacker was new to the mission, having spent Saturday night there, and was about to check in for a second night when he got into a fight.
“Something ... set him off, and he evidently had a knife in his bag,” Smith said.
The altercation took place right before the man would have handed over his belongings to staff, and at least one staffer at the mission's check-in desk was among the two staffers injured in the attack, Smith said.
On Monday, Smith issued a statement and video update in which he sought to make clear the suspect was not denied lodging for Sunday night.
"This is not over a denial of service," Smith said in the video. "This was not about any kind of conflict between our staff member and the individual that came in. We were checking him in, in the normal process, when for whatever reason, he decided to attack the staff person."
The nonprofit ministry was founded by a group of Christian businesspeople and today serves food, offers counseling and seeks to house roughly 150 people each night, according to its website.
Victims of Sunday's attack were found in the facility's day room but also outside its walls, the executive director said in the interview. Police will be able to see much of what happened when they review the facility's security video, Smith said.
"We're sharing video with them," he said. "The whole incident is on video."
Salem Mayor Julie Hoy said during a separate news conference Monday that the violence affected some of the community's most vulnerable people.
"Last night a terrible thing happened in Salem, Oregon, to folks that need the most," she said.
A community prayer event was scheduled for Thursday morning at the homeless facility's chapel. Its day room was closed Monday but was expected to reopen by nightfall, Smith said.
"Please pray for our staff and guests — that they will be comforted and sustained amid something that cannot be easily explained," he said in Monday's statement.
