‘Pistol whipping incident’ near Salem Mall leads to arrest

A man has been arrested for an alleged pistol whipping incident in Salem. May 2024 (courtesy Salem Police Department).

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man is scheduled to be arraigned in a Marion County court Thursday afternoon after being arrested the day before and charged with menacing and assault in a suspected “pistol-whip incident,” police said.

According to Salem police, 21-year-old Enrique King Hatfield was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he fled a shopping center near High Street Northeast in Salem after security guards reported he was waving a gun.

The man “couldn’t get on a bus, yelled threats and displayed a handgun,” Salem police said. “As the man fled, he pointed the gun at a passerby.”

Salem police responded to the mall around 3 p.m. Police eventually located the suspect near Court Street Northeast and Church Street Northeast. There, a witness reported that the man allegedly “hit a passerby in the face with the butt of a gun, threw her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly,” the press release said.

A brief foot chase began, but officers were able to apprehend Hatfield and confiscate a handgun from him, police said. The woman who was allegedly attacked was treated by paramedics on site.

Hatfield is now lodged in the Marion County Jail and is charged with second-degree assault, two counts of menacing, unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm.