Eleven people were hospitalized after being stabbed at a homeless services provider in downtown Salem, Oregon, on Sunday night, police said.
A suspect was in custody after the violence at 7:15 p.m. at Union Gospel Mission, Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick said.
The injured individuals were transported to Salem Hospital, as confirmed by Hedrick via email. Information regarding their condition was not provided, and Salem Health, the parent company of Salem Hospital, did not give an immediate comment when contacted on Sunday evening.
The suspect was described only as a man, and no identity was available.
The event took place at the Union Gospel Mission’s Men’s Mission, a facility encompassing 50,000 square feet that opened in 2021. It is located just a few blocks north of the mission’s former 1960s-era buildings and is situated directly across from the Salem Police Department.
In a phone interview held late Sunday night, Executive Director Craig Smith mentioned that the aggressor was a new guest at the mission. After spending Saturday night there, he attempted to check in for a second evening, during which a confrontation ensued.
“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, who was working the mission’s check-in desk, was injured in the attack, Smith said.
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 found in the facility’s day room but also outside its walls, the executive director said. 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.”
