Man Stabs 11 on 2nd Night at Oregon Homeless Shelter

Visitor allegedly pulled knife from bag during fight in Salem
Posted Jun 2, 2025 8:00 AM CDT
Man Stabs 11 on 2nd Night at Oregon Homeless Shelter
   (Getty Images/carlballou)

A man stabbed 11 people at a homeless shelter in downtown Salem, Oregon, on Sunday evening—as cameras recorded his every move. "The whole incident is on video," Craig Smith, executive director of the Salem Police Department, tells NBC News, referring to security video at the Men's Mission, a Union Gospel Mission facility which houses about 150 people each night, just across the street from the police department.

The male suspect, taken into custody at the scene, was a new visitor to the mission. He spent the night on Saturday and was about to check in for a second night, which would've meant handing over his belongings, when a fight erupted. "Something ... set him off, and he evidently had a knife in his bag," Smith tells NBC. A staffer working the check-in desk was among those injured. All were taken to Salem Hospital, but there's been no word on their conditions. KATU describes "varying types of injuries." "This is a very fresh incident, and detectives are gathering the facts," says a police rep. (More stabbing attack stories.)

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