PORTLAND, Ore. — New court documents are shedding light on a stabbing in Southeast Portland early Wednesday morning that quickly turned into a lengthy police standoff at an apartment complex.
Police arrested 29-year-old Beka Nebi Dekebo late Wednesday morning after officers rushed in, concluding the hours-long standoff. Dekebo faces charges of second-degree attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon, both with domestic violence enhancements.
According to a probable cause statement filed by Portland police, officers responded to an assault call at a MAX platform near East Burnside Street and Southeast 122nd Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. that morning. They were flagged down by a man who led them to a bench, where multiple people were trying to help an injured woman.
"(She) was bleeding from multiple stab wounds," the responding officer wrote. "Her leggings had heavy blood stains. A man was applying pressure to a wound on the left side of her chest."
Paramedics arrived and started helping the woman, who was able to get up and walk to the ambulance. She told police that her boyfriend, Dekebo, had woken her up in the middle of the night and told her that she needed to "repent" before stabbing her with a kitchen knife.
"He said that everyone needed to repent and stabbed her," the officer wrote. "She said there had been no prior argument and that this attack had been unprovoked."
According to the victim, Dekebo lives with schizophrenia and did not take any medication for it. She said he'd tried to stab her recently "in order to make her repent," but she hadn't called police at the time. While he'd also had a gun, she said that she'd recently stolen it from him and tossed it into the Columbia River.
Learning that Dekebo might still be in their nearby apartment, police moved to the building where they saw an emergency exit door ajar and heard an alarm sounding from inside. Inside the door, the affidavit says, the exit bar was covered in blood, and there were drops of blood on the stairs. Another door leading to the third floor was smeared with blood.
Arriving at the third floor apartment that the victim shared with Dekebo, police said they ordered him to come out and put his hands up.
"I gave a force warning which included deadly force, less lethal force, and K9 bite," the responding officer wrote. "A short time after the challenge a male voice called back from (the apartment), 'I'm going to come out shooting.'"
That began a standoff that would last for the next few hours. The affidavit says that Dekebo did stick his head out to ask why police were there, but refused to come out or show both hands.
"He showed one hand at a time and was uncooperative," the responding officer wrote. "I asked him about repenting and he asked if I was religious. When I asked him about his faith he said 'sitting in the living room' was his faith."
Dekebo repeatedly beckoned officers closer, the affidavit says, claiming that he had a gun but apparently being unable to describe it and unwilling to show it.
Members of the Portland police Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) soon arrived to take over negotiations, to no avail. Hours later, officers stormed the apartment and took Dekebo into custody.
The probable cause affidavit lists evidence recovered from the apartment, including a kitchen knife and clothing with blood trace evidence. The list of evidence does not suggest that police found a gun at the scene.
As of the last update from Portland police, the victim was hospitalized but is expected to survive.