A man whose ingenious pop-up swimming pool kept the homeless cool during the recent heat wave was fatally stabbed in the same spot just one day later, according to Portland police.
Officers identified Tyson L. Morlock as the man who was found stabbed in the inner eastside Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood at Division Street and Southeast Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard around 3:37 a.m. on Thursday, July 1.
Despite life-saving efforts from paramedics, he died shortly thereafter in a nearby hospital, according to authorities.
Morlock, 27, had been interviewed the previous day, June 30, by a reporter on assignment for the Reuters news agency.
"There's not a lot of places you can go in the community where you can be safe," Morlock said, according to a tweet from the reporter, Sergio Olmos.
According to Olmos, Morlock hooked up the pool to a fire hydrant at the Division Street underpass of Highway 99E, which is also known as Martin Luther King Boulevard.
"Morlock said he 'tried to steal' a Slurpee from 7-Eleven this weekend but the clerk wouldn't let him," according to Olmos. "He's like 'just take it man, it's hot outside.'"
Homicide detectives say the person who stabbed Morlock remained at the scene and was interviewed, but "has not been charged at this time and we are not releasing his name."
Detectives and the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office continue to work the case.
