‘The system failed him’: Family identifies man who drove into Multnomah Athletic Club

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of suicide and mental health issues. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

The man who drove an explosives-laden vehicle through the front of the Multnomah Athletic Club early Saturday was identified by family members as 48-year-old Bruce Valentine Whitman.

More than a decade ago, Whitman worked as bartender at the exclusive Portland social club before he was fired, but his family said he long held a grudge against his former employer. Whitman’s identity was first reported by The Oregonian.

“With mental illness, it’s really a tough thing to understand, and I don’t really understand,” Rita Lenzer, Whitman’s mother, told OPB during a somber interview Sunday. “I don’t even know that he remembers doing some things, but a part of him has to plan and think of this. There’s so much hate there.”

Police say Whitman drove a rented vehicle through the glass windows at the front of the 135-year-old eight-story MAC building just before 3 a.m. Saturday. He drove his vehicle around the club’s ground floor as he attempted to set off explosions, Portland Police Commander James Crooker said Saturday, though most of them failed to detonate. Whitman died in the car after it went up in flames.

The MAC will remain closed for at least a week as staff work to repair the damage. No one else was injured.

“Our immediate priority is ensuring the club is safe and ready to welcome you back,” MAC staff said in a statement posted to social media Sunday afternoon. “That work is now in motion, but it will take some time.”

Since the incident, more about Whitman’s turbulent history with mental illness has come to light. Family and neighbors said his mental health began to decline following a motorcycle accident several years ago that resulted in severe brain damage.

“Head-on collision, so there’s been some brain injuries,” Lenzer said. “Just bad luck for him.”

In February, Whitman attempted to kill himself and was admitted for several weeks to the Unity Center in Portland, the family said.

“They evaluated him, seemed fine,” Lenzer recalled. “He’s very capable of taking care of himself. Still, after that, had some anger issues.”

While at Unity, Lenzer said, her son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

His cousin, Ric Loza of Corvallis, said Sunday he believes Whitman should have been admitted for longer.

“He should be locked up right now and getting care,” Loza said. “But the system failed him and luckily didn’t fail somebody else with their life because of his actions.”

Lenzer said at times her son fixated his “hate” on the athletic club.

“It just kept building and building, you know, he just couldn’t leave it alone,” she said. “At the same time, he’s the most pleasant person to be around caring, giving, loving person.”

His family noted that Whitman kept a food pantry outside his North Portland home, which was still in place Sunday morning. He also fed homeless people and sometimes let them stay in his home and take showers, they said.

Lenzer said she last spoke to her son on Friday morning — Whitman gave his mother no indication of his plans.

“He had to have been thinking,” Lenzer said. “He didn’t give me a clue.”

Her son’s body was unrecognizable, she said. Police used Whitman’s fingerprints, wallet and rental car reservation to identify him.

Portland Police, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office and federal law enforcement agencies did not respond or declined to answer OPB’s questions Sunday seeking to confirm Whitman’s identity. On Saturday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said “the only entity that is authorized to speak to the identity of this individual is the Medical Examiner’s Office. They are the only ones that can make that notification.”

Neighbors saw concerning behavior before attack

Neighbors of Whitman, who lived in the Kenton neighborhood of North Portland, told OPB that he suffered from mental health issues stemming from a motorcycle crash several years ago. One neighbor said his behavior “became extremely paranoid and delusional and aggressive.”

That neighbor, who requested anonymity due to concerns about her safety, said she saw video shared on Nextdoor that depicted Whitman walking around the neighborhood naked while banging on people’s doors, throwing rocks at his dog and damaging nearby properties.

He also frequently discussed the Multnomah Athletic Club and his fears that its staff were spying on him, she said.

She said she testified in a stalking case someone else brought against Whitman. The Oregonian reported Sunday that a judge had granted a stalking order request against the man in 2021. The neighbor said she tried to secure him mental health treatment, but to no avail.

“I spent so much time trying to talk to the police, trying to convince them of how dangerous he was,” she said. “It was like a full-time job for a while.”

Another neighbor, Fern Capella Allen, lived next door to the man for five years. She said police arrived at his home around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon to serve a warrant on the property, while a bomb squad cleared the property.

It was clear that he suffered from mental health issues, she said.

“I think that he was a really beautiful person that was suffering badly,” Capella Allen said. “He got in his mind that these people had wronged him, and he just devolved mentally.”

She said she last saw Whitman Friday afternoon. He was working in his front yard, which he had been renovating for much of the past two weeks. Several hours later, the Multnomah Athletic Club was attacked

“I wish that I had been even more compassionate with him,” Capella Allen said with tears in her eyes, adding that her neighbor told her he’d attempted suicide in February. “I don’t feel anything, but just sorrow for him and his family.”

A challenging scene for law enforcement

Inside the entryway of the MAC’s first story, roughly 2 inches of water flooded the floor after firefighters worked to douse the early Saturday morning flames. It was also charred by burn marks from the devices the driver was able to ignite, Police Commander Crooker said.

Those un-denonated devices proved challenging for Portland’s bomb squad, which was joined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Related: Police say 1 dead, multiple explosive devices found after attack on Portland’s Multnomah Athletic Club

Portland police officer Jim DeFrain, supervisor of the explosive disposal unit, said Saturday that crews used robots to move potential explosives, and that they continued to find new improvised explosives and incendiaries as they worked. He described the scene as the most complex he’s encountered in 13 years as a bomb technician with the city.

But despite the scale of the threat, Chief Day said Saturday that the attack was not connected to terrorism.

The MAC building houses multiple restaurants, swimming pools, ballrooms, and meeting rooms, and regularly hosts sporting events and community gatherings. Those are all on hold until the clubhouse reopens — and it will reopen, according to staff.

“We’ve faced challenging moments before, and each time, this community has come together and found a way forward,” staff wrote online. “That same strength will carry us through this as well.”