A homeless man was stabbed twice early Thursday in his camp near Interstate 84 and Northeast 181st Avenue in Gresham, then walked to a nearby gas station to flag down an ambulance crew before officers tracked down and arrested a suspect nearby. Police identified the suspect as 41-year-old Kevin George, who now faces charges of second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon.
The stabbing happened near a gas station in the 2800 block of Northeast 181st Street, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive, which reported that police say the injured man was stabbed while in his camp before making his way to the station to seek help. An ambulance crew treated his injuries at the scene, and police say he has a known current condition, though his identity has not been publicly released. A police spokesperson relayed the arrest and charges in an email, per the outlet's report.
Additional detail on how the encounter unfolded came from a separate account: the victim reportedly walked to the gas station specifically to flag down the arriving ambulance crew, and officers located George and made the arrest nearby shortly after, according to KATU. Police say George and the victim did not know each other and believe the attack was random.
Charges Carry Steep Mandatory Time
George faces a second-degree assault charge, a Class B felony that under Oregon Revised Statutes § 163.175 carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 70 months — five years and ten months — under the state's Ballot Measure 11 law, according to Oliveros Law Group. That mandatory minimum leaves no room for early release or judicial discretion if he's convicted. He also faces a charge of unlawful use of a weapon, a Class C felony under Oregon Revised Statutes § 166.220 punishable by up to five years in prison, per Gilroy Napoli Short Law Group, which defines the offense as carrying or possessing a dangerous weapon with intent to use it unlawfully against another person.
Formal indictment details from the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office will matter as the case moves forward, given the severity of the mandatory sentencing structure attached to the assault charge. Police have not said what led up to the encounter, and the victim's current condition and identity remain undisclosed.
A Corridor With a Violent Recent History
The 2800 block of Northeast 181st Avenue sits in Gresham's Rockwood area, home to the Gresham Police Department's dedicated Rockwood Public Safety Facility at 675 NE 181st Ave, established as part of an urban renewal effort to concentrate resources on neighborhood safety, according to the City of Gresham. The corridor has seen other serious incidents in recent years: in July 2023, Portland Police fatally shot a homicide suspect in a U.S. Bank parking lot on the same avenue following a multi-agency search tied to a fatal shooting at a Portland medical center, per KGW. Just two weeks ago, Gresham Police responded to a fatal traffic incident on the same avenue near NE Couch Street after a 73-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed while crossing the road.
Thursday's stabbing also adds to a troubling pattern of knife violence targeting unhoused residents in Gresham. In March, 22-year-old Antony Kassab was sentenced in Multnomah County court to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to separate knife attacks on unhoused men, including a fatal stabbing in December 2023 and a near-fatal attack in February 2024 — a case Hoodline covered in its report on the 30-year sentence for stabbings of homeless men. Law enforcement officials noted at that sentencing that unhoused community members face heightened exposure to physical violence.
Unsheltered Population Has Grown Sharply
The stabbing comes against a backdrop of a rapidly growing unsheltered population in East Multnomah County. The county's Point-in-Time Count released in late 2025 identified 10,526 people experiencing homelessness across Multnomah County during a single night in January 2025, a 67 percent increase over two years, with 20 percent living unsheltered, according to county data. Local street outreach groups have emphasized that unsheltered individuals face elevated risks of physical trauma.
Gresham has seen other recent violent knife cases as well. In April, 38-year-old William J. Huffman was sentenced to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the 2025 fatal stabbing of Thomas Ferrer inside a Gresham RV, a case court filings noted occurred amid drug-induced hallucinations. And in February, Gresham Police arrested 37-year-old Vinh Nguyen on first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon charges following a stabbing at a home in the 2500 block of NW 4th Street, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the knife attack at a previously raided home.
No further details have been released about what led to Thursday's attack, and police have not said whether additional charges against George are expected as the investigation continues.
