PORTLAND, Ore. -- Hours after the chaos on Portland State University’s campus calmed, people living in apartments in the small retirement community of King City, which sits just south of Tigard, realized they had connection to the tragedy on TV.
The suspect, 61-year-old Greg Porter, allegedly drove the SUV down the crowded campus sidewalk and injured three women. He was arraigned in court Wednesday on pleaded not guilty to three charges each of attempted murder, first-degree assault, reckless driving and failure to perform the duties of a driver.
Porter moved out of the King City neighborhood last summer.
“I'm just in shock,” said Judith Lynne, who lives next door to the apartment 61-year-old Greg Porter shared with his wife. “He'd come over and help me get stuff out of the car. He was kind of like a big teddy bear.”
Others said, sadly, it made sense.
“He was a strange man,” said Ralph Garza, who lives on the other side of Porter’s old home for three years.
Garza, like others on Saturday, described the 61-year-old man as paranoid and angry.
Garza said Porter would frequently get mad at neighbors for being too loud and accused them of talking about him. He was also convinced, said Garza, that someone was spying on his computer.
“He said, 'You know somebody hacked into my system, and I can't understand why they're looking at my keystrokes,’” recalled Garza.
He said he then made a joke about Porter watching pornography online. Days later, Garza said Porter approached him again.
“He said, 'Somebody used my credit card, and they're charging me $500 for porn. You did it, didn't you?’” Garza said. “I said, ‘No! How can I get your card? I'd have to hack into your system! I don't know what your credit card is.'”
Garza said Porter wasn’t convinced.
“He started calling me names…then he just went into his house puffing, and every time he'd be on the phone, he'd be yelling and screaming ‘God d*** it!' You know, cussing these people out,” he said. “He had a short temper.”
Garza said Porter later told him he frequently walked to a nearby convenience store to proposition “older women” for sex.
“I just kind of left it alone,” said Garza. “I said, ‘I want nothing to do with this.’”
Garza says neither Porter nor his wife worked. She never left that apartment.
Neighbors say it ended when his wife passed away last summer. Court records show Porter was evicted around the same time.
Garza and other neighbors later saw him panhandling along busy streets nearby.
Directors at the Secora Health and Rehabilitation Center in Southeast Portland confirmed Porter stayed there recently for physical therapy rehab and was discharged on May 1.
One administrator said he had concerns about Porter’s mental health.
Porter has been charged with three counts each of attempted murder, assault, reckless driving and failure to perform the duties of a driver.
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/psu-hit-and-run-suspect-charged-with-attempted-murder/283-558267793