A woman was fatally stabbed and three victims were injured in Beaverton.
December 19, 2019, 9:53 PM
6 min read
A botched bank robbery at a crowded Oregon shopping mall a week before Christmas apparently ignited a stabbing rampage that left a woman dead and three victims wounded, police said.
The suspect in the deadly eruption of violence on Wednesday in Beaverton, Oregon, that included two knife-point carjackings, was identified by police as Salvador Martinez-Romero.
Martinez-Romero, 20, is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon on charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery.
Salvador Martinez-Romero, 30, is seen in this undated police handout.
Salvador Martinez-Romero, 30, is seen in this undated police handout.via Beaverton Police Department
"This was a horrific crime, and our hearts go out to those victims and their families," Beaverton Police Chief Ronda Groshong said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
The rampage unfolded just before 11 a.m. when police responded to a report of a robbery in progress at a Wells Fargo bank in the Murray Hill Marketplace shopping center in Beaverton, police said in a statement.
Investigators enter a bank after an attacker stabbed multiple people at a suburban Portland shopping center, Dec. 18, 2019.
Investigators enter a bank after an attacker stabbed multiple people at a suburban Portland shopping center, Dec. 18, 2019.Beth Nakamura/Oregonian via AP
During the robbery, the suspect fatally stabbed a female customer and attacked another woman before fleeing the bank, police said. The second victim survived being stabbed and was in critical condition at a hospital, police said.
After running out of the bank, the suspect attacked a man, stabbing him and stealing his car in an attempt to make a getaway, according to authorities.
As officers fanned out around the mall searching for the suspect, police in nearby Tigard, Oregon, received a report that a woman was stabbed in a residential neighborhood by a man matching the description of the Wells Fargo bank suspect, officials said.
A vehicle from the sheriff's department sits outside a bank after an attacker stabbed multiple people at a suburban Portland shopping center, Dec. 18, 2019
A vehicle from the sheriff's department sits outside a bank after an attacker stabbed multiple people at a suburban Portland shopping center, Dec. 18, 2019Beth Nakamura/Oregonian via AP
When police spotted the suspect in Tigard, he allegedly ditched the second stolen car and took off running, but officers quickly captured him, according to police.
The victim wounded in the failed bank robbery was in critical condition on Thursday, police said. The two stabbed carjacking victims were being treated at a hospital for serious injuries, police said.
The names of the woman who was killed and the three injured victims were not immediately released.
"We are deeply saddened that an incident at our Murray Hill Marketplace branch in Beaverton resulted in the senseless death of one of our customers and injuries sustained by others," Wells Fargo officials said in a statement. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to those who lost their loved one. Our thoughts are also with the innocent people who witnessed this heinous crime."
