MEDFORD, Ore. — “I saw the look on his face and he started to panic… because he just realized ‘oh my god, I just stabbed one of my best friends’… I’m probably going to go to prison,” said Cameron Bursell, a witness.
Bursell says he was walking his dogs Monday evening in Hawthorne Park when he saw something terrifying.
“You normally only hear about this kind of stuff happening… you don’t normally see it,” he said.
Bursell says a group of transients were lying on the grass drinking when things got out of hand.
“I just saw him pulling the knife back and putting it away,” he said. “And standing there in shock because he just realized what he did.”
Moments later, Bursell says the man ran towards Bear Creek and threw the knife. It bounced off of the highway bridge into the water.
That’s when he called 911.
“They were trying to get the bleeding to stop. Only half of the people ran over after him because they wanted to make sure he didn’t run away,” he said.
Police arrested 26-year-old, Marcus Dwayne Harper, and charged him with assault, unlawful use of a weapon, and tampering with evidence.
Harper faced a judge Tuesday afternoon.
A public defender pleaded “not guilty” on his behalf. He’s currently being held in jail on over $200,000 bail.
“Marcus was Marcus… there’s nothing about it,” said Randy Cope, another witness.
Cope says he’s good friends with Harper and says he’s a heavy drinker. He also claims to have watched it all unfold and says he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“You’re done, nobody is going to sit here and beat him up or anything like that,” Cope said. “You’re going to die in jail anyway.”
Both Bursell and Cope told police the knife was thrown into the river. Although police haven’t been able to locate it, they say they won’t stop looking anytime soon.
Police aren’t releasing the name of the victim at this time, but say he was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery for his injuries.
This is an ongoing investigation, if you have any information you’re urged to contact police.
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