Two people were stabbed to death on a light-rail train in Portland, Oregon, on Friday afternoon, after trying to confront a man who was verbally abusing two women who appeared to be Muslim, according to police officials cited in The Oregonian.One individual died at the scene and the other died at the hospital, the newspaper said.
The suspect, a white male, was reportedly shouting "hate speech or biased language," and focused on the younger women - one of whom was wearing a hijab, said Portland Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.
As passengers attempted to intervene, the suspect turned his attention toward them. A third passenger was also stabbed, but suffered no life-threatening wounds, according to Portland police officials.
"In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behavior and some of the people that he was yelling at," Simpson said, according to The Oregonian. "They were attacked viciously."
The suspect was was later taken into custody as he fled into a downtown neighborhood in Northeast Portland.
"We don't know if he's got mental health issues," Simpson continued. "We don't know if he's under the influence of drugs or alcohol or all of the above."
"These were folks just riding the train and unfortunately got caught up in this," Simpson said.