Good morning…..
When a man started swinging a knife last week, brave people stepped up.
They tried to stop the slashing attack at Union Gospel Mission on Sunday evening, June1. Many ended up seriously hurt themselves.
But the details that emerged in the hours after the assault put Salem into national headlines.
Twelve people, including mission employees, were injured. A massive response by police, medics and firefighters got them immediate treatment. And the man suspected of the attack was arrested quickly by Salem police.
At Salem Reporter, we know our duty to you and the community – get the facts, skip the hype and help everyone understand what happened.
Under the guidance of Managing Editor Rachel Alexander, our team mobilized on Monday to cover every aspect. Reporters Ardeshir Tabrizian, Abbey McDonald and Madeleine Moore assessed the scene, calmly and respectfully interviewed witnesses, and pieced together the events. Laura Tesler, our go-to photographer, joined the effort, producing remarkable photos that carried no sensationalism.
They got up new information through the day Monday. By evening, they had crafted a narrative with even more details: A place to safely rest becomes a Salem crime scene.
We took you inside Salem Hospital to show how medical teams responded. We were in the Marion County courtroom where the suspect faced a local judge. And our reporting shared a special prayer service, including the display of a handwritten poster made by a seriously-injured mission worker from his hospital bed.
Our team made some key decisions along the way.
Court records we obtained detailed the names and the injuries of every person attacked at the mission. We opted to respect their privacy, identifying by name only those who decided to tell us of their experience. We do, however, use that information for regular checks with Salem Hospital to keep you current on the conditions of those recovering.
And a short but graphic video that recorded the opening moments of the attack was presented to a judge. A Portland television station aired it. We won’t. The images are violent and graphic. We’ll use our powers of observation to tell you what’s important, but we’re going to spare you the images themselves. As editor, that’s my call – but it is backed up by every member of our team.
Count on that team to keep you up to date. Tabrizian has a detailed story in the works looking at the suspect’s history – and how he ended up in Salem. Our reporters will follow the criminal prosecution. They’ll keep in touch with mission officials as the institution recovers. At every step, we’ll continue to be restrained but thorough, detailed yet not sensational.
In other news in recent days………
In our public safety reporting:
•This isn’t the kind of industrial development people typically want in town. Madelieine Moore has the story of a man who made millions shipping out of his Salem plant a special kind of candy – before federal agents shut him down.
•The Salem Police Department is bringing back its popular Community Academy.
In our city government reporting….
•City Hall will be strangely empty starting this week. City employees moved out to clear the way for contractors to get to work on the building. Where’d everyone go? Reporter Joe Siess has that for you.
•You can soon have more fun than ever at four city parks. They’re getting upgrades this summer.
•A city disaster hits. How do officials decide on evacuations and how are they handled? One of our columnists explains.
In our community reporting…
•Some local parents aren’t happy that a special school program is being moved out of one location and shifted across town to another.
•Musicians from local high schools brought home trophy hardware from state competition.
•We have our monthly guide for you on what to find in Salem’s art galleries and museums. Why not put at least one of them on your “to do” list for June?
And we make news…….
I can tell you the team is mighty pride to represent Salem so well in journalism competition. Our small team faced news organizations from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska as judges examined work, looking for excellence.
This is one measure of how we do in serving Salem’s news needs. Journalists can be a tough bunch. To have your peers judge your work to be some of the very best done in the West is good for us. But it also affirms our promise to you and other readers – that we’ll focus on delivering fair and accurate local news you can trust.
This work can be done because of our subscribers. We depend almost entirely on those monthly and annual fees for our service. If you aren’t a subscriber yet, please sign up today. The more subscribers we have, the more we can do for Salem.
HAVE A COMMENT? SUGGESTION?
Have thoughts about our reporting? A story we should do? A person we should profile? Or do you have questions about how we do our work? You’re welcome to send me an email – I read every one of them. Email: [email protected].
–Les Zaitz, Editor and co-founder
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