An assault that left a man with life-threatening injuries triggered a heavy police presence in downtown Eugene on the night of Tuesday, Dec. 2, a Eugene police spokesperson said.

Officers responded at 10:02 p.m. to a report of a man attacking another man in an Oak Street alley near 10th Avenue, police spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin said in an email.

Upon arriving, officers provided emergency medical aid to a man in his 40s, who was taken by ambulance to a hospital, McLaughlin said. No further information about the type of assault or the man’s condition was available, she said.

Two vehicles parked vehicles can be seen, one a police vehicle. A third vehicle, marked as a police truck, can be seen behind police tape. A man can also be seen with his back to the camera.
A Eugene police officer stands near an alley closed off with police tape just west of the Overpark Parking Garage on 10th Avenue near Oak Street after midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. Credit: Jaime Adame / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

The case remains under investigation by the department’s Violent Crime Unit, with no suspects taken into custody despite a search of the area, McLaughlin said. At the time the assault was called in, a man was reported to have been seen fleeing the alley toward Willamette Street, McLaughlin said.

Late Tuesday night, parked police vehicles with flashing lights could be seen on multiple streets, including Willamette Street, near where the assault took place. McLaughlin said a Springfield police dog helped with the search.