The Latest: Police eye Oregon stabbing suspect's ideology
By Associated Press
May 27, 2017 4:13 PM CDT
Police investigate a deadly stabbing on a Metropolitan Area Express train in northeast Portland, Ore., Friday, May 26, 2017. Police in Oregon say several people died and another was hurt in a stabbing on a Portland light-rail train after a man yelled racial slurs at two young Muslim women. (Jim Ryan/The...   (Associated Press)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Latest on a stabbing on a Portland, Oregon, train that left two dead (all times local):

2:10 p.m.

Police say they'll examine what appears to be the extremist ideology of a man suspected of fatally stabbing two other men on an Oregon train after they apparently attempted to intervene when the man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim.

Police in a statement Saturday also say 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian of Portland doesn't have any known mental health history listed and he's not flagged as a criminal gang member.

Police arrested Christian on Friday following the stabbing. He's being held in the Multnomah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder and attempted murder. He's scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

Police have also identified the two young women on the train, one of whom was wearing a hijab at the time of the stabbing. Their names haven't been released.

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1:30 p.m.

Authorities have identified two men fatally stabbed on a Portland light-rail train in Oregon.

Police on Saturday said 53-year-old Ricky John Best of Happy Valley, Oregon, died at the scene on Friday and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche of Portland died at a hospital.

Police say 21-year-old Micah David-Cole Fletcher of Portland was also stabbed in the attack and is in serious condition at a Portland hospital. Police say his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Police say the stabbing occurred after a man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, one of whom was wearing a hijab, and other men attempted to intervene.

Police on Friday arrested 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian of Portland. He is being held in the Multnomah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder and attempted murder.

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9:45 a.m.

The 35-year-old Oregon man identified by authorities in the fatal stabbing of two people on a Portland light-rail train has a criminal record that includes stints in prison.

Court records located by The Associated Press on Saturday show that Jeremy Joseph Christian was convicted of robbery, kidnapping and a weapons charge in 2002.

Christian is being held in the Multnomah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder and attempted murder.

Police say two people died Friday and another was hurt in the stabbing after a man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, one of whom was wearing a hijab.

Police say that before the stabbing the assailant on the train was ranting on many topics, using "hate speech or biased language."

One person was dead at the scene and another died at a hospital. The third person was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Autopsies are expected later Saturday.

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8:25 a.m.

Authorities on Saturday identified a 35-year-old Portland man as the suspect in the fatal stabbing of two people on a Portland light-rail train in Oregon.

Jeremy Joseph Christian is being held in the Multnomah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder and attempted murder.

Police say two people died Friday and another was hurt in the stabbing after a man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, one of whom was wearing a hijab.

Police say that before the stabbing the assailant on the train was ranting on many topics, using "hate speech or biased language."

One person was dead at the scene and another died at a hospital. The third person was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

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