11 People Hospitalized After Mass Stabbing at Homeless Shelter in Oregon: Reports
Salem Police Department confirmed a suspect is in custody following the incident, per an X post
The victims were taken to Salem Health Hospital to be treated "with varying types of injuries," local station KATU reportedMultiple people have been injured after a mass stabbing incident in Oregon, police have confirmed.
On Sunday, June 1, the Salem Police Department responded to calls of the stabbing, confirming that a suspect was in custody, per a post shared on X.
The incident occurred at 7:15 p.m. local time at the Union Gospel Mission's Men's Mission homeless shelter in downtown Salem, NBC News reported, citing police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick. The organization's new 50,000-square-foot location opened in 2021, the publication noted.
Eleven people have been hospitalized following the stabbing, according to the outlet.
Police confirmed on X that the victims were transported "for care," confirming that the incident "is an active investigation."
According to ABC-affiliated local station KATU, the victims were taken to Salem Health Hospital to be treated "with varying types of injuries."
Police closed off Commercial Street at D Street, the X post confirmed, stating that motorists were being diverted from the area.
The suspect has been described only as a man, but no additional information was given, per NBC News and CBS News.
The shelter's executive director, Craig Smith, told NBC News in a phone interview that the suspect was new to the mission and had spent Saturday night there. He was reportedly about to check in for a second night on Sunday "when he got into a fight."
'Something ... set him off, and he evidently had a knife in his bag,' Smith said, per NBC News. At least one staff member was injured in the attack, Smith told the outlet. They were working the check-in desk at the time, and the fight reportedly occurred just before the man went to hand over his belongings.
"We're sharing video with them," Smith told NBC News of handing evidence over to the police, adding, "The whole incident is on video."
The outlet stated that the homeless shelter is across from the Salem Police Department.
"This is a very fresh incident, and detectives are gathering the facts," police spokesperson Hedrick said, per KATU.
A message on the Union Gospel Mission of Salem's website stated of the work that the organization does, "Starting with meeting immediate needs like nourishing meals and safe shelter, Union Gospel Mission of Salem seeks to restore dignity and hope by sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ with those in need, which will ultimately help them break free from homelessness for good."
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The doors first opened to the original Union Gospel Mission of Salem in June of 1953 after "a group of Christian businessmen" had become "concerned with the homeless men coming into the Willamette Valley for the harvest" the year prior, the site added.
"Upwards of 150 homeless men seek refuge with us each night," the organization confirmed of the Men's Ministry. The new location is just a few blocks north of the old building, per NBC News.
The Salem Police Department, the Union Gospel Mission of Salem and Salem Health did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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On the day he was kidnapped, Arsalan was forced to surrender $340,000 worth of tether. When he got home to check his Binance account, he stared in awe after seeing that his wallet was wiped clean. 'I had no options left. This is my whole life savings. This is all my life's money,' Arsalan said. 'I have no words to tell you what I feel at that time.' Ordekian said that in most cases, perpetrators are successful in taking money from their victims. Lopes' case was an outlier. His wife was held captive for four days while there were deliberations over the ransom amount, and the authorities were eventually able to rescue her before he had to give up any money. Police located Lopes' wife in a three-story building in São Paulo, according to Anselmo Cruz, who works for the anti-kidnapping division of the civil police in the Brazilian state where Lopes' wife was abducted. Cruz added that when police broke into the building, they arrested at least one person and removed Lopes' wife, finding that she did not sustain any physical injuries. A spokesperson for São Paulo's Public Safety Department said in a statement to NBC News that four other people were later indicted in connection with the crime. Lopes said it was later revealed that the people who had kidnapped his wife had been planning the abduction for nine months. 'They wanted a stratospheric amount. They wanted an amount that didn't exist,' Lopes said. Lopes said his wife's captor had misunderstood the amount of crypto Lopes had. Lopes had previously transacted with one of his wife's captors and sent him bitcoin, he said, but the interaction gave that person the wrong impression about how much money Lopes actually had. 'The guy didn't understand because he thought that the bitcoin I sent him was mine,' Lopes said. 'They got confused — one thing what's in my wallet, another thing what's in a brokerage firm's wallet.' Ordekian says perpetrators' familiarity with their victims is another characteristic that is common in these cases, especially for figures like Arsalan, Lopes and Ivaibi who have built a strong online presence. Like in Lopes' case, the other people affected by crypto kidnappings who spoke to NBC News had connections to some of their assailants. Arsalan's perpetrators had messaged him on Instagram about purchasing tether from him prior to his abduction. Ivaibi said that one of the people involved in his kidnapping was a family friend. Woeltz and Duplessie are alleged to have known their victim personally for several years, according to prosecutors. Life after a wrench attack How a case is handled depends a lot on what country a victim resides in. Ordekian noted there is 'currently no definition of a wrench attack in legislation or academic work,' which can make it difficult to form legal protections against this specific form of attack. In Pakistan, the current legal state of cryptocurrency is fluid, making Arsalan's case difficult to navigate. Pakistan's government has been critical of cryptocurrency but has also taken some steps that recognize its increasing legitimacy. Arsalan eventually filed a complaint with Karachi police, despite having been threatened with murder by his captors if he were to go to the authorities. The alleged perpetrators were arrested within three days after Arsalan filed a complaint. The case is still active. 'Pakistani systems are very slow and very lazy, and they also don't know about how crypto works,' Arsalan said. 'They are just confused about this all, and right now I'm waiting for seven months.' Uganda similarly has a lack of regulation around the use of cryptocurrency. Despite this, Ivaibi said he had support from the authorities, who placed at least one perpetrator in custody, according to a Mitroplus Labs press release. Uganda's Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has said that cryptocurrency would be unregulated in the country and advised citizens to be wary of its 'use in criminal transactions.' Brazil currently has a number of laws and regulatory bodies tasked with overseeing the use of cryptocurrency. One is the Internal Revenue Service of Brazil, which Lopes said had launched an investigation into him to impose a possible fine based on the amount of money the perpetrators had requested from him during his wife's kidnapping. The Brazilian IRS said in a statement to NBC News that it would not be able to disclose any information about the investigation due to tax privacy laws. In the wake of their kidnappings, the victims who spoke to NBC News said they've adjusted some of their protocols and practices. Lopes said that after his incident, he has made sure that all his crypto trading follows what are known as 'know your customer' (KYC) procedures, which require users of cryptocurrency platforms to provide personal information, including addresses and financial data. With more data about participants who are involved in crypto transactions, law enforcement can potentially identify individuals who might be involved in wrench attacks. 'We have been able to track the funds, and those funds were formed in a certain Binance account, and we were able to contact Binance through the Uganda police intelligence, and they sent us the KYC,' Ivaibi said. Lopes said he has also taken measures in the real world, like making sure that his family is accompanied by security personnel, in order to avoid another attack. Ivaibi said that he also has police patrolling his home every day. But he says these aren't the only measures that should be adopted. 'The authorities were not prepared — no one was prepared,' Lopes said. 'I told people, 'There should be a team, a team, whether from the federal police, the civil police, I don't know which department, but there should be a team ready for this type of action.'' And while many victims work to change their daily lives following their attacks, many still carry fear from their experiences. 'The trauma that comes thereafter is what is really more torturing,' Ivaibi said. 'You feel like everything is insecure out there.' Bruna Horvath Bruna Horvath is an intern on NBC News' tech team.
