Medford, Ore. — Medford Police are looking for help in identifying the people involved in two gang-related stabbings over the weekend in West Medford.
“Usually I try to avoid going through the park once it gets dark out,” said Tyler Tinsen who lives near Union Park.
Tinsen said he avoids the park area at night because he’s well aware of the gang related violence in his part of town.
Medford Police Lieutenant Mike Budreau said one of the stabbings happened close to Union Park near the corner of Plum and Prune streets just after midnight on Saturday morning.
“There were four individuals walking down the road when they were approached by five to seven Latino males dressed in red and there was some gang affiliation being thrown around,” said Budreau.
A heated verbal confrontation led to a fight that put two people in the hospital. One of them with three stab wounds to the back and the other with one stab wound to the back. As of Monday, the person who was stabbed three times was still in the hospital, in good condition. The second person stabbed was treated and released from the hospital.
Then Budreau said, about 45 minutes later nearby on the 400 block of South Columbus Avenue, another gang-related fight erupted.
“There were several individuals beating up on one male,” he said.
The man was stabbed once in the back and sought medical treatment on his own.
This month Medford Police and other agencies conducted a sweep and found 376 documented gang members in the area. It’s something Joe Ferguson, who works with troubled kids, finds disturbing.
“I think that should be something that’s very concerning to the community and we don’t want that to continue to grow,” said Ferguson.
Budreau said he hopes gang violence doesn’t continue to grow after the two stabbings.
“You could have these two fights that could certainly cause retaliation, even escalation of violence,” said Budreau.
Escalation and retaliation is something MPD and tinsen don’t want to see. For Tinsen, the location of the stabbing near Union Park is of particular concern.
“Who’s caught in the crossfire is a really good question,” he said.
“The safety issue at hand would be controlling all the gang activity that goes on around here,” said Tinsen.
Police said one person– who was stabbed in the back three times in the first incident — is still in the hospital in good condition.
Police said they don’t believe the second incident was related to the stabbing near Union Park which involved people in a different gang.
Investigators are trying to track down the suspects involved in both incidents.
Budreau said investigators are still trying to figure out if the people who were stabbed claimed gang affiliations as well.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Medford Police at 541-774-2230.
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