PORTLAND, OR (May 30, 2017) – First Covenant Church will hold a Community Service of Prayer for Peace following deadly stabbings at a nearby train station that have drawn national attention, as well as an unrelated nearby violent incident that led to much of the neighborhood being placed on lockdown.
The service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Last Friday a 35-year-old man allegedly stabbed to death two men and seriously injured another on a light-rail train when they stepped between him and two teenage girls at whom he was yelling what police said, “would best be characterized as hate speech toward a variety of ethnicities and religions.” One of the girls was wearing a hijab.
Ricky John Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, were slain. Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, is recovering in the hospital and expected to survive.
People from around the country have expressed outrage over the attack and are contributing to a fund to help the families of the victims.
On Sunday night police placed the neighborhood on lockdown for 10 hours due to an “active shooter” incident. That incident happened five blocks from the church.
“The community is kind of reeling,” said Sarah Hammersborg, pastor of family ministry.
