Man stabbed in dispute at Cascades Gateway Park
A 24-year-old man was stabbed Thursday night following an argument near the Church at the Park micro shelter site on Southeast Turner Road.
Police were called to the shelter around 10 p.m., said Angela Hedrick, Salem Police Department spokeswoman.
She said witnesses reported hearing an argument between two men.
“The argument led to a physical fight, resulting in one of the men stabbing the other. The suspect then fled the scene,” she said.
The victim was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
DJ Vincent, founding pastor and CEO of homeless service provider Church at the Park, said the stabbing took place in nearby Cascade Gateway Park. The agency’s staff learned of it because the victim came onto their property seeking help.
“They broke through the gate and the fence to escape whatever was happening,” he said.
Church at the Park had two employees at the site and a third nearby who responded, Vincent said. They provided first aid and called police.
Two other employees went to the site after they were notified of the stabbing.
The property at 2410 Turner Rd. S.E. hosts about 40 young adults ages 18 to 24 in micro shelters.
Hedrick said police did an “extensive search” of the area and weren’t able to locate the suspect.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
