Here’s what officials are saying, so far, about this outer East Portland gun violence incident. Only one of two murder suspects is in jail …
While looking into another call, on the border of the Glenfair and Centennial Community Group neighborhoods, officers heard shots – which turned out to be a homicide.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It’s unclear who called the 9-1-1 Center, dispatching Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers to the area of SE 151st Avenue and Stark Street – near the border of the Glenfair and Centennial neighborhoods – on January 4 at 5:06 a.m. It was a report of a shooting.
But, it didn’t take long for arriving officers to discover a deceased adult male at the scene. Detectives with the PPB Homicide Detail were called out to investigate.
According to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim, 28-year-old De’Andre D. Rouse, was determined in an autopsy to have died in a “homicide by gunshot”.
Streets in the neighborhood are closed, as Homicide Detail detectives search for suspects..
On January 6, a PPB official announced that Homicide Detail detectives had arrested two male suspects later on the morning of the shooting.
According to information released by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, police were already in the area on January 4, on a different call, when they heard gunshots and witnessed a vehicle with two persons inside quickly leaving the area.
Officers and investigators document evidence at the crime scene. Image courtesy of KOIN 6 News
Court documents show that, while one officer followed the getaway car, another officer checked around the area – and located an abandoned car with “… a significant amount of blood in and around the driver’s seat … (and) a blood trail leading from the vehicle,” according to the filings.
Investigators later found a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun dropped in a bike lane, around NE 148th and Glisan, plus a .9mm semi-automatic handgun nearby, court papers revealed.
One of the two arrested was 19-year-old Christopher J. Watkins. According to court papers, Watkins was arrested about an hour after the shooting in the Parkrose neighborhood, near NE 102nd Avenue and Sacramento Street, and the papers further assert that his girlfriend used a “rideshare application” to get him a ride over to that area.
Facing a homicide charge is 19-year-old Christopher J. Watkins. MCDC booking photo
According to Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division, Watkins was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) on January 4 at 6:48 p.m., on charges of Murder in the Second Degree. At his arraignment, Watkins learned he was being held without bail, and currently continues being lodged in the MCDC.
After getting tips from 9-1-1 callers in the Hazelwood neighborhood, officers located another suspect hiding near NE 124th Avenue and Halsey Street – “bleeding heavily”, according to the documents.
Police identified that suspect as 20-year-old Timothy E. Burks, who was arrested – then transported to a local hospital for medical care. When sufficiently recovered, Burks will be also be booked into MCDC, and arraigned in one count of Murder in the Second Degree.
Anyone with information about this murder is asked to contact Detective Mark Slater at 503-823-9319 or Mark.Slater@portlandoregon.gov or Detective Erik Kammerer at 503-823-0762 or Erik.Kammerer@portlandoregon.gov.
© 2020 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™