PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Four homicides in a span of 24 hours, two shootings and two stabbings, were recorded in Portland, leading to the arrest of 3 people and the search for another.
Two other people were injured in separate instances during this same time frame.
“It’s been an extraordinarily busy period of time for the Portland Police Bureau and the city of Portland,” said PPB Sgt. Kevin Allen. “Over basically a 24-hour period we had four murders.”
The bloody cycle began around 2:15 a.m. Friday, when police responded to shots fired on SE 148th between Stark and E. Burnside. The victim later died at a hospital and 31-year-old Stephen Matthew Toelle was arrested in Happy Valley.
About 9 hours later, a person was stabbed to death in Portland’s Old Town “right before lunch,” PPB Sgt. Kevin Allen said. The suspect, Dorian Cannon, was found a few blocks away and arrested. Court documents show the 50-year-old had a recent history of homelessness and the stabbing happened right outside the Union Gospel Mission.
An assault and gunfire in the 300 block of West Burnside sent one person to the hospital, October 1, 2022 (KOIN) 
One person was shot to death near NE 162nd and Sandy Boulevard in Portland, October 1, 2022 (KOIN) 
One person was shot to death near NE 162nd and Sandy Boulevard in Portland, October 1, 2022 (KOIN) 
The Portland Police Bureau Mobile Command Center at a crime scene, October 1, 2022 (KOIN) 
One person was shot in the leg near NE 126th and E. Burnside in Portland, October 1, 2022 (KOIN)
Around 8:30 p.m., another person was stabbed to death around NW Broadway and Couch. In that homicide, 20-year-old Kalil C. Ford, 20, was booked for 2nd-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.
The fourth homicide is the only one where a suspect remains at large. Shots rang out around 1:22 a.m. at NE Sandy Boulevard and 162nd, leaving one person gravely wounded. Officers arrived first, then paramedics who declared the victim dead at the scene.
Elisha Gonzalez and his wife said they woke up around 1:30 a.m. to the sound of bullets hitting their Northeast Portland apartment complex. Their 3 girls were asleep at the time.
“We live right up there, and bullets could have hit one of my daughters’ rooms,” Gonzalez told KOIN 6 News.
Mrs. Gonzalez said she “grabbed my little one that was with me on the bed and I threw myself on the floor with her, and I told everybody to get on the floor.”
They said they heard a rapid succession of 20-30 gunshots, some of which struck their property.
“There was a gunshot in my car and my tire was popped,” she said.
The names of the victims have not been released in any of the cases. The investigation into all 4 continues.
Allen told KOIN 6 News that despite the 4 homicides, the good news is that 3 suspects are in custody.
“The interesting thing about these cases is that we’ve made 3 arrests so far,” he said. “While that’s good news, it certainly is a tragic time.”
On top of that, 2 other shootings were recorded in Portland.
Around midnight Friday night, one person was shot in the leg near NE 126th and East Burnside. However, that person did not cooperate with police. The case remains open.
Gunfire also rang out in the 300 block of West Burnside, near Dante’s. Authorities said 2 men were hurt after they were “assaulted by multiple people.” One person was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment and is expected to recover. Cars in the area were hit by the gunfire. That case also remains open and under investigation.
Anyone with information about any of these cases is asked to contact PPB.
“Every one of these deaths is significant but the truth is when they all happen in such a short period of time it compounds. The impact compounds on all of us here in the community,” Allen told KOIN 6 News. “This is unacceptable. This is not the Portland we want or know.”
