A federal judge has committed 52-year-old Joseph K. Banks, a diagnosed schizophrenic and serial killer, to the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board’s lifelong jurisdiction.
The ruling permanently places Banks in state mental care, with the possibility of his release if he no longer poses a threat to others.
He Was Living in a Residential Group Home When He Shot and Killed Three Men
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Banks was living in a Northeast Portland group home in 2022 when he fatally shot three men in different instances over a three-month period.
That March, he was declared not guilty by reason of insanity for illegally possessing a pistol, a charge compounded by his previous commitment to a mental health facility and felony status.
U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio concluded that Banks violated the rules of his 2021 supervised release by neglecting to take his prescribed psychiatric medicine.
In 2022, a series of random attacks in Portland led to Banks’ admission to Oregon State Hospital, resulting in the deaths of three people and the injuries of three others.
First Ordered Into Psychiatric Care in 2007
Banks was initially admitted to mental care in 2007 following a second federal conviction for illegal handgun possession. Prior convictions for weapon and drug charges date back to 1997, according to court records.
He was conditionally released in 2021 to a halfway home before being sent to the residential group facility where the deaths occurred.
On North Morgan Street, authorities discovered the first victim, 39-year-old Isaiah Hurst, driving a crashed vehicle. Jeff Ramirez, 35, was the second person killed after being shot in the torso while sitting in his car on Southeast Stark Street at 119th Avenue.
The third fatality, Mark Johnson, 55, was discovered near his SUV on the outskirts of Dawson Park.
Banks shot three other people at the same time, but they all survived.
During sentencing, Judge Baggio stated that if the state decides to release Banks, he will be transferred to a federal medical facility, where he will remain until a federal judge certifies that he no longer poses a threat to public safety.
