Stabbing may lead to juvenile charges

Law enforcement officials with Ontario Police Department and Malheur County Sheriff’s Office responded to the stabbing shortly before 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

The agencies worked on investigating the incident overnight.

In an update on Friday, Ontario Police Chief Michael Iwai stated that dispatch received a call regarding a fight in progress on Northwest Fourth Street. He said, when they arrived, bystanders told officers there was a male inside a stationary vehicle who needed an ambulance due to a knife wound.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.

Law enforcement gathered information on suspects and vehicles, relaying some of that to partnering agencies, according to Iwai. A short time later, Fruitland Police stopped the vehicle in their city.

“In summary, preliminary investigation revealed that multiple juveniles and young adults were involved in a physical altercation. There were two primary aggressors identified (suspects) and both are juvenile males. One juvenile struck the victim (also a juvenile) with a baseball bat and the other stabbed the victim twice. Both suspects are in custody and the victim is in stable condition,” said Iwai. “The investigation is ongoing.”

When asked whether the juveniles might be charged as adults in the crime, Malheur County District Attorney David Goldthorpe on Friday morning said, “at this point, we’re proceeding with juvenile charges.”

As such, no further information was released.