PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Police are still searching for the man who walked into a bar and stabbed an off-duty firefighter near Providence Park Saturday night. On Sunday, new photos were released of a suspect.
Portland detectives shared images taken from surveillance video of who they said is the suspect they are looking for, as well as a description of the man.
Investigators said the suspect is a man who appears to be in his mid-20s, standing approximately 5-foot-4-inches to 5-foot-8-inches tall and weighing roughly 170 pounds with an athletic build. He has short black hair and facial hair and olive-colored skin, said police. Surveillance footage shows the suspect was wearing a black hoodie and dark pants on Saturday.
The off-duty firefighter who was stabbed while at the Kingston Sports Bar and Grill was released from the hospital Sunday, said Portland police.
The victim, who has only been identified as a Lieutenant with the Portland Fire Bureau, will continue his recovery at home. Portland Fire and Rescue’s Chief Sara Boone confirmed on Sunday that one of the department’s lieutenants was stabbed in “the upper body” in an “unprovoked attack.” Boone released a statement about the assault, which read, in part:
“Portland Fire & Rescue would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the agencies who responded to the scene including American Medical Response, Portland Police Bureau, Portland Fire & Rescue Station #3, and to the staff at Emanuel Hospital. The promptness, collaboration, and professionalism of all these agencies proved a positive outcome for our fire lieutenant.”
Detectives said the two men didn’t know each other. The bar’s owner said the suspect had come in earlier in the week and threatened customers.
“We believe he was in the day before and was yelling and screaming and swearing and wanted to fight everybody and we ran him out,” said Kingston Bar owner Gary Jondahl. “I don’t know what brought him in the next day, but he was here.”
Jondahl said the firefighter was seated with a group of people celebrating a birthday Saturday evening when a brief scuffle unfolded.
“The bad guy came in this door, came over, confronted him,” described Jondahl. “The victim gets up, comes after him a little bit. The bad guy king of looked like he was punching the guy in the stomach, but apparently he had a knife.”
He said the suspect then ran out the door and disappeared.
“He didn’t even realize—I don’t think—that he had been stabbed,” said Jondahl. “I think the adrenaline was flowing so fast that he sat down again and then went to the bathroom and realized he was bleeding.”
Jondahl said he has been the bar’s owner for almost 40 years and this was the first incident like this to have happened.
Detectives are still looking for witnesses of the stabbing. Anyone who knows the identity of the suspect pictured or saw what happened at the Kingston Sports Bar on Saturday night is asked to call police.