A place to safely rest becomes a Salem crime scene

Editor’s note: This article contains graphic images.

Kyle Casey stood outside Salem’s Union Gospel Mission shelter, waiting to check in and get a bed for the night on Sunday.

As he waited, a man rushed out the front entry, bleeding.

Behind him came a man wielding a knife.

Casey himself was stabbed in one of the bloodiest incidents in recent Salem history. In all, 12 people were wounded by a Bend man with a history of threatening strangers at knifepoint. Five remained hospitalized as of midday Monday.

The startling attack left workers at Salem’s largest shelter working through the day to recover in time for the evening meal.

Meantime, in a jailhouse courtroom 6 miles away, Tony L. Williams, 42, was formally charged with the attack. He responded to the judge with rants and delusions.

Interviews, official statements and videos tell the story of an awful Sunday night in Salem.

The suspect knew the shelter’s routine – he had been there the night before. Police said he was traveling by bus from Portland to the Bend area, but got off in Salem on Saturday.

Just before the stabbing Sunday, the evening chapel service was wrapping up. The shelter was preparing to close for the night at 8 p.m. 

About 100 men sleep in bunk beds, housed 20 to a room in upstairs dormitories at the complex at 777 Commercial St. N.E. 

The shelter is intended as a safe haven for men, many who are working to heal after incarceration and recover from addiction.

Out front, a stone is engraved with Jesus’ words imploring the faithful: “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Every day, men wait outside to sign in and get a bed.

Guests check in at the front desk, completing a sign-up sheet.

They then hand in their luggage for the “hot room,” set to 118 degrees to kill bed bugs. They get a piece of paper to hold, matching their bag.

The shelter has no metal detectors, but weapons aren’t allowed. Employees who find weapons confiscate them or tell the person to leave.

Police said the suspect returned to the mission Sunday evening, shortly before the stabbing.

Following procedure, he checked in at the front desk and handed over his bag.

But soon after, he decided he wouldn’t stay. Employees told him he needed to leave since the shelter was shutting down for the night.

He went back to the front desk to get his belongings.

As he was receiving his bag, he pulled a knife.

The man slashed at Josue Acosta-Montero, the worker running the check-in desk, seriously injuring him.

He swung the knife as employees and homeless men rushed to stop him.

He fled out the front door, stabbing Casey and others.

Bobby Epperly, staying at the shelter as part of its men’s ministry program, watched some of the attack from his upstairs bedroom. 

“I see him start stabbing people one after another after another. When I went down the stairs, there was a bloody scene,” he said. “It was horrible.”

Then the attacker ran across Northeast Commercial Street to a traffic island – just outside Salem police headquarters.

Video shows police confronting him on the median. He was in handcuffs less than five minutes after the stabbing began, police said.

Medics and officers from six agencies responded, pressing bandages to wounds as victims laid in the lobby. Police closed streets.

At Salem Hospital, the charge nurse watched as the number of reported stabbing victims grew from one to three, then 10. She alerted the emergency department to prepare for a mass casualty incident.

Four patients arrived within the hour, at risk of death, said Dr. Libby Windell, the medical director of trauma services. One had urgent injuries that needed life-saving attention. The rest were “walking wounded,” Windell said.

Patients began arriving at the emergency room as police interviewed witnesses at the shelter.

The aftermath

Less than 12 hours later, breakfast, normally served in the dining room, was held in the parking lot at 5:30 a.m. The shelter itself remained closed.

Blood marked the shelter floor. One trail accompanied by splatters wove through the lobby, a sign of the violence of the attack. Blood too dripped off the front counter.

A large bloodstain, now dried, remained on the back of Casey’s shirt where he was stabbed 12 hours earlier. 

He was released from Salem Hospital around 7 a.m. Monday. He said he got a ride to The ARCHES Project before walking across the street to the mission.

He didn’t want to know what the stitches on his body looked like.

“It hurts really bad,” he said.

Authorities midday released more details about the attack, but listed no motive. They said Williams used an 8-inch knife, which police recovered.

The men who were stabbed ranged in age from 26 to 57, police said.

Salem Police Deputy Chief Treven Upkes said “multiple people suffered multiple stab wounds.”

Detectives are investigating the circumstances of Williams’ bus trip, Upkes said. There’s no indication the attack was targeted, his agency said in a news release.

The injured employee underwent surgery and has “very, very serious injuries,” Craig Smith, UGM’s executive director, said in a video posted to Facebook on Monday morning.

“Please pray for him. He is, right now, fighting for his life,” Smith said.

A second staff member, who is part of the mission’s New Life Fellowship program, was stabbed several times. He remained hospitalized in stable condition, Smith said in the video. 

The fellowship is a Christian drug and alcohol recovery program that takes about 18 months to complete and includes working jobs at the mission.

Smith gathered his staff for a 7:30 a.m. meeting at the mission’s thrift store just down the block. Smith reported staff “shaken, but they’re absolutely determined to get the mission back open.”

Outside the store, Smith stopped twice to hug employees and ask how they’re doing and if they’re hurting. He told them to take care of themselves.

“Our response has been to come together as a staff to pray, to pray for one another and to pray for the people that were injured. It wasn’t just our staff, there were a number of people other than that, and then also to pray for the man that committed this crime,” Smith said.

Counseling services will be available to staff, according to Smith. 

The stabbing left those staying at the shelter on edge, Smith said, since such extreme violence is unusual. 

“We might have a temper flare up once in a while. We’ve never had anything like this happen before and so they’re, as a group, very, very rattled,” he said.

As a result of the attack, though, Smith said mission staff are reviewing changes to shelter procedures.

“For the folks to know, this is not an unsafe place. This is a one-time event that we haven’t ever seen before. We want people to know that they can come here and be safe,” Smith said.

Smith started as the organization’s executive director at the beginning of May. He took over after Dan Clem, who held the position for eight years, retired.

Even though he’s been in his role for little over a month, Smith said he works with amazing staff and most of them stepped in to care for victims after the stabbing.

“I got here last night about eight o’clock when I got the call and half of my staff was here. They were already here, I don’t even know how they knew,” Smith said. “We had staff providing emergency care to people on the floor before the EMTs got here.”

The suspected attacker appeared in court Monday afternoon in the Marion County Criminal Court Annex, attached to the county jail. He faces an attempted murder charge and 11 counts of second-degree assault.

Williams stood behind glass, appearing agitated and rambling profanely even after court staff lowered the volume on his microphone. He complained about conditions in the jail, claiming that staff were pumping gas into his cell, and that he had acted in self-defense.

Marion County Circuit Judge Pro Tem Drew Taylor ordered that he remain in jail at least until his next court hearing scheduled for Monday, June 9, finding that there was probable cause he committed the crimes he’s charged with and that he is a danger to the public.

Marion County Chief Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy said in a court filing Monday that Williams is accused of stabbing vulnerable victims and causing permanent injury. Those are among the details prosecutors intend to rely on to argue for a sentence that’s longer than normal if he is convicted.

“Several victims have sustained significant physical injuries, and it remains possible that death is a foreseeable result,” Murphy said in another court filing.

Court records list the most recent address for the suspect as a homeless shelter in Bend. Police said Williams was traveling by bus from Portland to Deschutes County and had stopped in Salem on Saturday. 

Court records show Williams has been in and out of mental health treatment in Deschutes County for the past several years, including a commitment to the Oregon State Hospital for several months in 2023.

Epperly, who saw some of the attack from his room, said that he’s appreciated the staff response.

“This place helps people,” he said.

He said that the stabbing is a test of faith, but staff and the community have shown support.

Epperly said that he believes Williams needs help.

“Everyone has issues. He needs help. We pray for him,” Epperly said. “He struggled, he did some heinous stuff. But hopefully he finds something better in his life. Hopefully he finds a higher power that will forgive him.”

RELATED COVERAGE: 

Bend man accused of stabbing 12 during check-in at Salem Union Gospel Mission

UGM closed Monday morning following stabbing of employee, 10 shelter guests

How Salem Hospital responded to a mass casualty event

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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