Portland Train Stabbings: Missed Signals? Murder Suspect Was Involved In Altercations The Night Before

The night before Jeremy Christian allegedly stabbed three people - killing two - police say that he was involved with an altercation, also on the MAX train. It happened at the Rose Quarter station.

Christian allegedly threw a bottle of Gatorade at a woman who is black. She then sprayed him with mace.

Later that evening, he was back on the MAX, police say.

Witnesses said he was very angry, complaining about Muslims, Christians, and Jews. He said they they should burn at the stake and spoke about wanting to stab people. The driver was informed but, it appears, that police were not informed until later.

Police are investigating that as well as the Friday night incident.

Meanwhile, people from all over Portland make their way to the scene of the killings.

Karen and Sean Scherlie live just a few blocks from the Hollywood Transit Center. On Sunday, they were among the hundreds who continued to make the trek, trying to make some sort of sense out of the incident on Friday that started with two teens being targeted by hatred and ended with two men dead, a third hospitalized, and city struggling.

The couple - both of whom are in their 50s - have lived their whole lives in the city. They say they've seen good and bad. But this, they say, is different.

"I guess I just wanted to be here, to experience things, try to make sense of what happened," Karen says. "But, really, there is no making sense of it."

Sean says he wanted to "see the outpouring. It is very powerful what is going on. The messages that people leave. I was listening to one father trying to explain things to his son.

"It is a lifelong message."

There is not one memorial at the transit center. Several have popped up, reflective of the fact that it was a very fluid scene on Friday when police say that Jeremy Christian screamed invective at two teenage girls - one of whom is Muslim - and when three men tried to intervene, he stabbed them, killing two.

About twenty yards from the Scherlies, a mom in her early thirties is talking to her son, who is eight.

"You know how I told you when someone is at a bully at school, it is important to say something?" she says, looking to him for some sort of recognition. "If someone tries to be a bully, let your teacher know."

Sarah Adams, 28, arrives at the Transit Center from North Portland, herself having been the victim of bullying, intimidation.

"I wanted to come last night," she says of the vigil that took place, drawing thousands. "But the thought of that many people seemed too much.

"So, I came today. On my own."

Adams says that she feels it is important to pay her respects.

"There are so many bad things that happen, so many things in this world," she says. "And then to have an instance where people stood up, did the right thing and lost their lives in the process..."

Adams takes a deep breath as her eyes tear up a little.

"I wanted to feel the pain that was here," she says. "I wanted to say thank you to these people. I wanted to connect with others who are feeling the same thing."

She is trying to make sense of things.

"I'm not sure that anything could have been done to stop this from happening," she says. "There are so many issues that we need to confront and maybe this gives us a starting point.

"I'm white and I can say without question that we - Portland - needs to work harder to make sure that people of color are treated better here. We need to do more to combat day-to-day discrimination because it leads to hatred."

Wendy Binion, 47, looks at one of the circles of flowers and candles that have sprung up with a sense of anger and frustration.

"We need to call this what it is," she says. "It is racism. It is hatred. It is terrorism.

"Hate speech is not free speech and should not be protected."

Binion is mad that Portland had allowed a march to go on last month - one where Christian spewed hatred and gave the Nazi salute.

"The city needs to take a stronger stand with these people," she says.

As angry as she is, there is something that gives her - and others hope - the actions of Rick Best and Taelisin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, who were killed, and Micah Fletcher, who was stabbed and is expected to survive.

"They all stood up and did the right thing," she says. "They put themselves in harm's way for people they did not know.

"That this happened, that these people live in Portland does not surprise me."

Sam, a 35-year-old nurse from Southeast Portland who did not want to give her last name, feels the same way.

"It's complicated and I am still trying to figure out exactly how I feel," she says. "But I know this is not just the story of these individuals, that there are bigger issues at play.

"The city that made these people stand up for others is also the city that helped make the person who committed the crime. There is much to be sorted out."

Meanwhile, fundraising continues for the victims of Friday's incident and their families.

The page set up by Portland restaurateur Nick Zukin to help the families of the two men who were killed has now raised $361,063 from 7,342 people.

A page set up to help Micah Fletcher, who survived, has raised $129,750 from 3,766 people.

A page set up to help the two girls who were the target of the vitriol that inspired three men to intervene has raised $12,007 from 393 people.

And a page set up by the Muslim community to help the families of the three stabbing victims has raised $317,518 from 7,000 people.

Photos Colin Miner