Bend stabbing victim recovering; police offer details

A 60-year-old Bend woman, stabbed in the chest by her 23-year-old son, was in good condition Thursday at St. Charles Bend as police confirmed that the young man shot and killed himself minutes later, after police arrived on scene.

Susan Elaine Stafford was found with apparent life-threatening injuries in the front yard of her southeast Bend home late Wednesday afternoon. Police confirmed Thursday she was stabbed once in the chest.

Her son, Seth Daniel Roberts, 23, called 911 to report the injury, police said, but fled into the home when police arrived. A gunshot soon was heard, and hours later, officers found him dead in the home.

Some neighbors in the Timber Ridge neighborhood were evacuated for several hours until the scene was deemed safe.

“We we’re just heartbroken — the whole community is heartbroken,” neighbor Mindy Berry said Thursday.

Berry lives three door down from Stafford and said her interactions with the injured woman didn’t usually amount to much more than friendly waves and casual hellos. But that’s all changed.

“I’m going to go see Suzie in the hospital this afternoon and take her flowers from the whole community,” Berry said. “She needs to know we care, that we are deeply saddened for the loss of her son and her own pain and praying she heals quickly, inside and out.”

Police and fire medics were called to the home at 20316 Donkey Sled Road off Country Club Drive around 3:50 p.m. when Roberts called 911 to report Stafford as unconscious and not breathing, said Lt. Nick Parker.

Police arrived a few minutes later and tried to contact the man later identified as Roberts. Parker said he was uncooperative with police and fled inside. Officers then heard one gunshot from inside the home.

Medics were able to remove Stafford from the scene and take her to St. Charles Bend with what police said initially were life-threatening injuries.

More police and Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies were called in to contain the scene around the home, along with Oregon State Police and the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team, or CERT, Parker said.

Police tried to contact Roberts by several methods, with no success. CERT Team members eventually went inside and found his body.

A few neighbors were evacuated while police surrounded the home and made sure all was safe inside.

One resident, Nathaniel Wise, wasn’t allowed to return home until police tape came down around 8 p.m.

Wise painted a picture of a quiet neighborhood where residents would never expect such an incident.

“People drive like 15 miles an hour on this small little road, mostly elderly folk,” he said, “and I could never imagine something like this in this small neighborhood.”