'Portland doesn't feel really safe': Family on edge after elderly man brutally attacked at waterfront
Warning: The video above and the article below contain graphic images that some may find disturbing.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A family is left on edge after a violent attack near Downtown Portland Tuesday morning. The family of 73-year-old Xinmin Liang says he was taking a routine trip to the Portland waterfront to go fishing and see the conditions as the area gets into spring. Liang set out to his usual spot on the Eastbank Esplanade when out of nowhere, he was attacked near the Steel Bridge.
"Just come up to him without saying a word, just started using, he picked up a stick, a fat wood stick, by the bank and started pounding on him," Liang's daughter, Jie Liang, said.
His family says the suspect beat him until the stick broke and he left the area, but not before severely injuring Xinmin, giving him a concussion and badly hurting his eye.
"My dad used his arm to protect his head so luckily he didn't sustain brain injury but because of that, his left front arm is completely broken," Jie said, adding that his arm was broken in at least two spots and he will need surgery next week.
Jie says her father doesn't speak English and didn't think he could call 911 so he called his wife and then took the MAX from the waterfront to the Central Library for her to pick him up, before they went home to their downtown apartment and got the building manager to call for help. However, in all that time on the MAX, they say no one tried to help him.
"He said some people in the MAX stared at him like what happened, but didn't help," Jie said.
The suspect is described as a white man in a gray shirt and pants, and was wearing a blue Willamette Week beanie which was left behind at the scene. Xinmin took it to give to police. His family hopes someone will remember seeing the suspect and help to catch him.
They don't know why Xinmin was targeted since the suspect didn't say anything before hitting him. PPB says as of right now, it's being investigated as an assault, but not a bias crime, however, that could change as the investigation unfolds.
Since moving to Portland from China, his family says Xinmin is a fan of going to fish on the Willamette, but is now scared to even go back to his home downtown. Since the attack, he and his wife are staying with Jie and her family. They're worried more attacks could happen to others.
"Be careful. Don't go to places that's nobody around and alone, because right now, Portland doesn't feel really safe," Jie said.
Police are asking anyone with information about what happened or surveillance video that may have picked up an image of the suspect, to please contact them or Crime Stoppers.