Man accused of stabbing 2 stopped by Portland police during assault

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two people were sent to the hospital overnight with serious injuries after they were allegedly stabbed by a man whose act of violence was interrupted by law enforcement intervention, the Portland Police Bureau said.

According to the Portland Police Bureau, the stabbing victims include a 42-year-old pregnant woman and a 44-year-old man, who were both transported to a hospital with significant wounds. However, they are both expected to survive, officials said.

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PPB also arrested a suspect, 21-year-old Justin G. Barrera-Guild, who is accused of a number of charges, including those related to domestic violence.

This all happened after police were dispatched to Southeast 122nd Avenue after midnight on Thursday. An initial 911 call at 12:10 a.m. indicated sounds of a disturbance reported by the caller. Another 911 call was placed just a minute afterward with a report that someone had been stabbed and the suspect was still in the vicinity, PPB said.

Portland Police Bureau seized a pink folding knife as part of a stabbing investigation and suspect arrest. April 4, 2024 (courtesy PPB).
Portland Police Bureau seized a pink folding knife as part of a stabbing investigation and suspect arrest. April 4, 2024 (courtesy PPB).

When police said they arrived within 5 minutes of the 911 calls, they came to the open front door of an apartment in the Mill Park Neighborhood.

“As they’re walking up they can hear screaming, sounds of a disturbance and they know something’s going on,” PPB’s Sergeant Kevin Allen told KOIN 6 News.

It was at that moment that police said they saw an alleged suspect “standing over a victim.” A PPB press release described the confrontation that followed:

“The officers challenged the suspect, who immediately turned his attention away from the victim and toward the police. He rushed the sergeant and punched him in neck area before officers could get the suspect under control and in handcuffs.”

The police sergeant in question was not seriously injured, officials said.

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The two stabbing victims who were hospitalized were later “stabilized,” according to the release.

“I really believe that they saved these people’s lives. It really could have been fatal,” Allen said about the police’s intervention during the incident.

A pink folding knife with a broken tip and brass knuckles, the latter of which was believed to be used during the suspect’s alleged assault against the woman and the police sergeant, were seized in the investigation.

Police said the case involved a “domestic relationship between the suspect and the female victim.”

Barrera-Guild was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center and faces first-degree and second-degree domestic violence assault, domestic violence unlawful use of a weapon, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and assault on a public safety officer.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact police.

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