Oregon

Oregon hospital sued for $35m by family of security guard shot dead in hallway

Published

1 year ago

November 13, 2024

Oregon hospital sued for m by family of security guard shot dead in hallway

The family of an Oregon hospital security guard who was shot to death while protecting a maternity ward from an attacker during the summer of 2023 is suing the medical facility for $35m in damages, saying it ignored warning signs that could have prevented the killing if addressed.

In the days before the killing of 44-year-old Bobby Smallwood made international news headlines, staffers at Portland’s Legacy Good Samaritan hospital made five separate complaints to administrators against the man later charged with his murder, PoniaX Calles, according to the lawsuit from the victim’s family, which was filed on Tuesday.

Calles allegedly threatened violence and tried to strike a nurse while saying, “If you guys keep acting like this, someone is going to get killed around here” – after accompanying his partner to the hospital on 19 July. All were clear violations of Legacy’s policy prohibiting workplace violence and should have resulted in Calles’s immediate removal, but administrators initially responded to the complaints by providing “support options” over email, the lawsuit prepared by attorney Tom D’Amore’s office alleged.

According to the suit, nurses resolved to have Calles removed from the hospital on the morning of 22 July. Smallwood was working that day as an unarmed guard and had received instructions to wait nearby in the hallway while other hospital security staff searched the room of Calles’s partner, finding ammunition and multiple guns.

The lawsuit alleges that, for more than 40 minutes, Smallwood’s colleagues failed to notify him of their dangerous discovery – or their having learned that Calles had an additional gun in his possession. Hospital staffers encountered Calles prior to his departure – and before they had declared a “code silver” that would have alerted everyone there of a potential shooting threat, the lawsuit said.

Calles turned around, fired at Smallwood, struck him in the neck and mortally wounded him, the lawsuit said.

Calles allegedly had a history of arrests on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and trespassing, including one case in which he was accused of stabbing someone at a restaurant in the face.

Calles, 33, fled the hospital and was shot to death by police as officers moved in to arrest him, authorities said.

“The repeated failures of Legacy Good Samaritan to follow their own safety protocols directly led to the tragically preventable death of Bobby Smallwood,” D’Amore said. “Despite documented threats and abusive behavior that required immediate removal under hospital policy, Legacy allowed a dangerous individual to remain on the premises for three days until those threats escalated to violence.”

Smallwood’s parents said they were told that their son was standing between Calles and patients along with staff in the hallway of a hospital maternity ward. His family is seeking $30m and $5m in non-economic and monetary damages, respectively, from the hospital over his murder, said a statement attributed to his parents, Walter and Tammy Smallwood.

“Every day we grieve the loss of our son and all the years ahead that should have been his to live,” the Smallwoods’ statement said. “Nothing can bring Bobby back, but we will not stop fighting until Legacy is held fully responsible for what they took from our family.”

A Legacy Health spokesperson declined to comment, the Oregonian newspaper reported. Days after Smallwood’s shooting death, the health network that runs Legacy Good Samaritan announced it would add metal detectors with bag searches at each of its hospitals’ entrances, equip lead security officers with stun guns and weigh whether any more measures were necessary.

The lawsuit from Smallwood’s family said Legacy Good Samaritan “only checked individuals for weapons at a single entrance equipped with a metal detector located in the emergency department” at the time he was killed.

Smallwood’s death illustrated the dangers of the unarmed security and highlighted how – as the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration says – “workplace violence is a recognized hazard” in the medical field.

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Oregon

Oregon Lottery Pick 4 results for March 5

Published

9 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

The Oregon Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 5, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 5 drawing

1PM: 6-6-8-1

4PM: 7-4-6-0

7PM: 5-6-5-2

10PM: 3-5-4-4

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Oregon Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 7:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 4: 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
Win for Life: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Megabucks: 7:29 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Oregon editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Oregon

Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class

Published

21 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class

With the winter evaluation period of high school football recruiting now behind us, we’ve seen some of the top recruiting sites update their rankings over the past few weeks and start to reset their boards for the 2027 class. In February, On3 shifted players around after getting fresh looks at the class, and 247Sports did the same earlier this week.

So with Oregon’s handful of commits getting new ratings, where does the Ducks’ class rank nationally in this cycle?

If you look at sites individually, it looks different, with 247Sports having Oregon sitting at No. 13 in the nation. At Rivals, though, they take the industry ranking, which factors in their own rankings, plus an average from 247Sports and ESPN.

In the industry rankings, Oregon sits at No. 9 in the nation, with five commitments.

Going into the summer months, the Ducks are in a great spot, leading or among the top schools for a handful of the top prospects in the nation, like 5-star QB Will Mencl or 5-star WR Dakota Guerrant. We will see what movement Oregon can make in the coming months after official visits take place early in the summer.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.

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Oregon

New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise

Data released by the Oregon Health Authority this week suggests Oregonians are getting hurt on electric scooters more every year.

In recent years, according to OHA, an “e-scooter-specific code” was developed for health care tracking purposes.

From 2021 to 2024, annual injury reports under this code from Oregon hospitals and emergency departments jumped from 211 to 418.

And in just the first nine months of 2025, there had been 509 such reports.

“These injuries are not minor scrapes,” said Dagan Wright, an OHA epidemiologist, in a written statement. “They often involve head injuries, broken bones, and other serious trauma that requires emergency or inpatient care.”

The city of Portland signed contracts with three e-scooter rental companies in 2018, as the transportation craze spread across the country. But e-scooter injury diagnosis codes are relatively new in health care reporting, Wright said in the OHA statement.

“While the overall numbers remain smaller than for other transportation-related injuries, the rapid increase over a short period of time is a clear safety signal,” OHA added.

The agency highlighted the story of Portland e-scooter commuter Daniel Pflieger, who it says was riding a scooter home when he reportedly slid on ice. He bruised several ribs.

Sometimes outcomes are worse. OHA identified 17 deaths linked to electric or motorized scooters since 2018, and seven of those occurred in 2025.

OHA says that e-bikes raise many similar safety concerns as e-scooters. The first full year for which e-bike injuries were coded for reporting was 2023. State data shows 392 reported e-bike injuries that year, 683 in 2024, and 760 in the first nine months of 2025.

“Injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters share common risk factors—speed, lack of helmet use, roadway design, and interactions with motor vehicles,” Wright said.

Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise (Source: Oregon Health Authority)

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