Two men were killed in a stabbing incident on a MAX train, Friday, in Portland. The incident, which is believed to be a hate crime, took place after the two men tried to intervene as another man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, according to local media.

Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson, who said that one of the women was wearing a hijab, added that a third passenger was also stabbed in the incident, but is expected to survive.

The suspect in the case, which comes the same day as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, was arrested as he tried to flee from the Hollywood transit station into the neighborhood near Providence Portland Medical Center in Northeast Portland. According to Simpson, the suspect and the three victims are yet to be identified.

While giving details about the incident, Simpson said that the suspect was reportedly ranting about many things, using "hate speech or biased language," and at one point focused on the young women.

"In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behavior and some of the people that he was yelling at," Simpson said. "They were attacked viciously."

"These were folks just riding the train and unfortunately got caught up in this," he said about the victims, adding that it was unclear why the suspect was hurling racial slurs at the people on the train.

"He was talking about a lot of different things, not just specifically anti-Muslim," Simpson said. "We don't know if he's got mental health issues," he said, adding: "We don't know if he's under the influence of drugs or alcohol or all of the above."

The FBI said it's "offering any resource that may assist Portland Police in their investigation" and will "determine whether there is any potential federal violation."

"At the core of the FBI's mission is the belief that every person has the right to live, work and worship in this country without fear," the agency said in a statement. "Hate and bigotry have no place in our community, and we will not allow violence in the name of hate to go unanswered."

The attack reportedly took place on a MAX Green Line train as it was heading east. A train was stopped on the tracks at the Hollywood/N.E. 42nd Avenue Transit Center as police investigated the incident. TriMet said the Blue, Green and Red MAX lines were disrupted and that the transit center was closed.

To get more details the police are planning to talk to the two women, who left the scene after the stabbing incident, Simpson said.

"It's horrific," he said. "There's no other word to describe what happened today. For the victims, our thoughts and prayers are with their families. ... For the witnesses, there is no other word."

While addressing the incident just ahead of Ramadan, which is observed by Muslims across the globe, Simpson added: "Our thoughts are with the Muslim community. ... As something like this happens, this only instills fear in that community. We have already reached out previous to this incident to our Muslim community partners and the different imams about extra patrol during Ramadan. We want to reassure them that that will continue."

Portland is home to a rough estimate of about 50,000 Muslims of different ethnicities.

"This appears at least to be an isolated incident based on what we know at this point," Simpson said, adding that police recovered the knife from the scene.

"It was really critical to us taking this man into custody. (He was) obviously very dangerous based on his actions," he said.

Hate crimes targeting Muslims rose by 67 percent in 2015, according to FBI data.

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