Bobby Smallwood started working as a security officer at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center last year. It may have seemed like an obvious career choice, given his size – he was 6-feet, 5-inches tall and 270 pounds.
But the 44-year-old wasn’t the kind of person who liked confrontations, said people who knew him.
“I was really surprised he went into security,” said Rachel Webb, a senior math instructor at Portland State University who taught and worked with Smallwood while he was a student. “…Although he was big, he was very sweet.”
On Saturday morning, Smallwood was shot and killed while covering a shift at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland. He died protecting staff and patients, the hospital said.
“It was devastating,” Webb said of learning about Smallwood’s death. “He just graduated and had his entire life in front of him. It was great that he stood up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves, but it’s just awful that he had to lose his life.”
One other employee was also injured in the shooting, by shrapnel, the hospital said.
Police found the suspect in Gresham later that day, and he was killed by Portland officers.
Smallwood, the oldest of three siblings, was born in Tampa, Florida, and came to Portland about 12 years ago, his parents said.
“He was the oldest and biggest of everybody,” his father, Walter “Bob” Smallwood, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “Everybody looked up to him.”
A relationship with a woman that began on Facebook prompted his move to Oregon, his parents said. The two dated for three to four years.
Bobby Smallwood attended Portland State, where he studied mathematics and helped run the school’s food bank. He graduated in 2020, and he lost his job at the food pantry during the pandemic. He moved on to Legacy Emanuel.
His parents, Walter and Tammy Smallwood, said their oldest son was high functioning on the autism spectrum.
Smallwood landed at Legacy Health, at first doing administrative and computer work. Sometimes, though, staff would call him to help with a security matter, his father said.
“He’s a good, stout man,” he said. “His size was intimidating.”
At some point, Bobby Smallwood was convinced to work security. His usual post was Randall Children’s Hospital.
“He loved children. Adults, he tolerated,” his father said.
Smallwood’s parents said they last saw their son when he flew home to attend his paternal grandmother’s funeral on July 10. He stayed in Florida for about 3 days.
Bobby Smallwood loved being around children at the children’s hospital and didn’t talk about ever being fearful in his job, his parents said.
“He wasn’t. I was,” his dad said, particularly because his son was not armed.
Last Monday, Smallwood texted his father that he was getting promoted to a supervisory role, his father said.
Smallwood, who lived alone, enjoyed listening to a wide range of music – from Neil Diamond’s “September Morn” to Depeche Mode’s electronic music, his parents said.
He also was an avid reader. His parents said that when he was growing up they couldn’t buy books fast enough to satisfy his reading habit. A book of records, they said, their son practically memorized.
When he wasn’t working, they said he enjoyed having friends over for cookouts and hiking and biking.
His parents received calls Saturday night from Legacy Health’s chief executive officer and his direct supervisor. Through tears, they told his parents their son was a good employee, someone “hard to replace,” his father recalled.
The Smallwoods were told their son was protecting staff and patients in a hallway of the maternity ward and was shot in the chest.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” his father said.
– Maxine Bernstein
Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian https://twitter.com/maxoregonian
– Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744
