Week #112 Shooting Report | Learn about the most recent outer East Portland gunshot homicide, a gunfire victim wounded, and 43 ‘Shots Fired’ calls during this week in September, 2022. And, why do we do these weekly shooting reports? Take a look …
With no slowing of shooting incidents in sight, officers keep responding, trying to reduce the amount of gunshot carnage in outer East Portland.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A few weeks ago, when reporting on the plan enacted by Portland’s Police Commissioner and Mayor Ted Wheeler July 21 he calls “Safer Summer PDX” – his plan to reduce “gun violence” – we asked: “With $2.4 million invested by the City to combat gun violence”, do you feel safer now?
With continued shooting carnage in to September, the question is just as vital now as it was back then.
At the end of this article, we’ll recap why East Portland News has found it compulsory to prepare weekly “Shooting Reports”. But first, this week’s outer East Portland gunshot homicide …
September 4
Man dies of shooting in Lents
After a man is killed by gunfire “in a residence” at a corner in Lents Town Center, officers and detectives arrive to investigate.
The investigation into this week’s shooting homicide in outer East Portland started early Sunday, September 4, when Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers were dispatched at 5:43 a.m. to the 6000 block of SE 90th Avenue.
However, the PPB Mobile Command Unit, and most officers, actually set up just west of SE 90th Avenue along the Woodstock Boulevard couplet in Lents Town Center.
On SE Woodstock Boulevard, the PPB Mobile Command Unit again serves as a temporary office for Homicide Division detectives.
“Officers were sent to a report of a person shot inside a residence,” a PPB official cryptically revealed. And when officers arrived, they indeed located a deceased adult male.
Detectives, Forensic Division examiners and officers discuss their findings outside where a man was shot to death earlier that morning.
PPB Homicide Division detectives and criminalists were called to investigate and to document the crime scene.
SE Woodstock Boulevard, between 89th and 91st Avenues, was closed both to vehicles and to pedestrians for most of the day, while detectives and criminalists processed the scene.
In this shooting homicide, Juan Carlos Artiles was revealed as the victim. Family provided image
On September 7, officials announced that the victim in this homicide was identified as 27-year-old Juan Carlos Artiles. The Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound, and the manner of death a homicide.
Anyone with information on this incident who has not yet spoken to police is asked to contact Detective Stephen Gandy at stephen.gandy@police.portlandoregon.gov or Detective Jeff Pontius at jeffery.pontius@police.portlandoregon.gov – and be sure to reference Case No. 22-238313.
September 3
Man wounded in Hazelwood shooting
Seconds before midnight, officers are again called to this area of Hazelwood, where they find a wounded man – with a confusing story about where the shooting took place.
The area along the TriMet MAX Light Rail Blue Line in the Hazelwood neighborhood was, once again, the scene of a shooting in which a person was wounded. This time, on September 3, PPB officers were dispatched at 11:59 p.m. (and 11 seconds!) to the north side of the tracks; specifically, to NE 126th Avenue and East Burnside Street.
“Officers arrived to find a man who had been shot in the leg,” PPB Public Information Officer Lt. Nathan Sheppard told East Portland News. “These officers immediately applied a tourniquet from their IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) and called an ambulance; the shooting victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
A shooting victim is loaded into an ambulance; his condition is unknown.
“However, while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, officers attempted to find out where the shooting actually took place. The victim had given them a number of different places around town [where it had happened],” the lieutenant said. “Officers canvassed several areas, but were never able to locate an actual shooting scene.”
So far, no suspects have been identified. This is Case No. 22-238132.
Four additional injury shootings occurred this week, outside of our area. They include:
Case No. Date and Time Location
22-235561 09/01/2022 at 09:02:11 4800 Block of NE GLISAN ST
22-236507 09/02/2022 at 07:21:13 3800 Block of NE 65TH AVE
22-239343 09/05/2022 at 08:52:51 900 Block of N THUNDERBIRD WAY
22-240896 09/06/2022 at 19:48:04 N PORTLAND RD / COLUMBIA BLVD
If you have information about any of these incidents, and have not already spoken to police, please e-mail: crimetips@portlandoregon.gov – and include the applicable Case Number, as we have provided them above.
~ Shots Fired Calls ~
With a total this week of 43 “Shots Fired” calls this week, officers were kept busy, once again, going from incident to incident, across outer East Portland. Officers do not always find evidence of shooting at some of these calls.
August 31 [+4 outside our area]
22-235128 08/31/2022 at 20:10:22 18300 Block of NE MARINE DR
September 1
22-236012 09/01/2022 at 17:41:15 16000 Block of SE STARK ST
22-236052 09/01/2022 at 18:35:02 1800 Block of NE 119TH AVE
22-236134 09/01/2022 at 20:32:54 NE 61ST AVE / NE HOYT ST
22-236242 09/01/2022 at 22:45:25 SE 136TH AVE / SE POWELL BLVD
22-236303 09/02/2022 at 00:03:30 NE 111TH AVE / NE WYGANT ST
22-236307 09/02/2022 at 00:04:42 16000 Block of NE GLISAN ST
22-236315 09/02/2022 at 00:16:48 4300 Block of SE 82ND AVE
September 2 [+3 outside our area]
22-236673 09/02/2022 at 11:30:02 SE 122ND AVE / E BURNSIDE ST
22-036328 09/02/2022 at 22:07:08 9200 Block of NE SKIDMORE ST
22-237168 09/02/2022 at 23:20:21 SE 112TH AVE / SE DIVISION ST
September 3
22-237236 09/03/2022 at 01:02:33 SE 89TH AVE / SE CLAYBOURNE ST
22-237242 09/03/2022 at 01:10:20 13300 Block of SE HAROLD ST
22-237253 09/03/2022 at 01:30:15 300 Block of SE 126TH AVE
22-237318 09/03/2022 at 03:02:28 6100 Block of SE 87TH AVE
22-237321 09/03/2022 at 03:05:48 4900 Block of SE BUSH ST
22-237324 09/03/2022 at 03:08:40 6700 Block of SE 65TH AVE
22-032681 09/03/2022 at 03:36:21 NE 162ND AVE / NE WASCO ST
22-237346 09/03/2022 at 04:09:14 NE 99TH AVE / NE GLISAN ST
22-237349 09/03/2022 at 04:10:37 SE 61ST AVE / SE POWELL BLVD
22-237365 09/03/2022 at 04:43:26 12300 Block of SE ASH ST
22-237723 09/03/2022 at 14:39:44 2800 Block of SE 90TH PL
22-237898 09/03/2022 at 18:58:44 SE 139TH AVE / SE MAIN ST
September 4 [+12 outside our area]
22-238209 09/04/2022 at 01:32:14 NE 22ND AVE / NE DAVIS ST
22-238220 09/04/2022 at 01:41:28 14100 Block of SE DIVISION ST
22-032807 09/04/2022 at 02:33:27 17400 Block of SE ALDER ST
22-238296 09/04/2022 at 04:40:51 8000 Block of N SYRACUSE ST
22-238361 09/04/2022 at 08:01:20 12400 Block of NE WASCO ST
22-238674 09/04/2022 at 15:45:39 100 Block of NE 147TH AVE
22-238931 09/04/2022 at 22:00:21 6700 Block of SE 77TH AVE
22-238990 09/04/2022 at 22:38:33 9600 Block of SE STEELE ST
September 5 [+6 outside our area]
22-239141 09/05/2022 at 01:33:43 2200 Block of SE 171ST AVE
22-239156 09/05/2022 at 02:05:51 SE POWELL BLVD / SE 148TH AVE
22-239231 09/05/2022 at 05:06:33 3300 Block of NE 89TH AVE
22-239238 09/05/2022 at 05:22:13 SE 94TH AVE / SE SCHILLER ST
22-239862 09/05/2022 at 19:30:44 8700 Block of NE WARD ST
22-239893 09/05/2022 at 20:15:01 SE 153RD AVE / SE POWELL BLVD
22-239909 09/05/2022 at 20:31:13 5900 Block of SE DUKE ST
22-240021 09/05/2022 at 22:55:51 9600 Block of SE HOLGATE BLVD
September 6 [+8 outside our area]
22-240094 09/06/2022 at 01:12:53 NE THOMPSON ST / NE 108TH AVE
22-240122 09/06/2022 at 02:11:52 12600 Block of SE BUSH ST
22-240814 09/06/2022 at 18:12:47 NE SANDY BLVD / NE 102ND AVE
September 7 [+3 outside our area]
22-241223 09/07/2022 at 05:48:40 9700 Block of NE EVERETT CT
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Not celebrating: 112 weeks of shootings
For years, East Portland News was seldom called to cover a shooting homicide. Gunshot injury incidents were also unusual, because they came up once every month to six weeks.
But, this all changed on June 9, 2020 – that’s when Mayor Ted Wheeler announced he was disbanding the Portland Police Bureau’s Gun Violence Reduction Team (GVRT).
Since that fateful date, stories about violent people using guns to murder and maim others have become so tragically frequent that we started compiling them into a single long weekly report – our only alternative to having East Portland News become an “All Shootings, All the Time” news service.
Since June 9, 2020, when the number of shooting incidents in outer East Portland spiked – starting with a shooting the very next day, and then nearly tripling in a month – and continued to steadily increase with 892 incidents that year across the city, and more than half of them in outer East Portland.
Here’s the continuing chronology of events:
August 6, 2020 – Mayor Wheeler hinted that the GVRT might be reinstated “in some form” – and that month ended with 122 shootings logged.
December 22, 2020 – PPB Chief of Police Chuck Lovell told neighbors that his office had been tasked by Mayor Wheeler’s office make a plan to reduce shootings.
Christmas 2020 – a plan was written and presented to the Mayor by that date; but the shootings continued, unabated.
February 19, 2021 – PPB Deputy Chief Chris Davis reveals the Bureau’s new “Enhanced Community Safety Team” (ECST) had been tasked to investigate, but not prevent, shootings.
June 4, 2021 – A year after Mayor Wheeler disbanded the GVRT, he announced the formation of the “Focused Intervention Team” (FIT) – and, along with it, the “Community Oversight Group” (COG) to supervise and critique the unit’s staff and activities.
January 19, 2022 – After training, the new Focused Intervention Team officers and command staff roll out for their first night shift based from North Precinct facilities – although most shootings take place in outer East Portland.
Ending 2021, Portland saw 1,319 shootings; and, July 2022 ended with 788 shooting incidents.
We hope for peace in Portland by Christmas. Sadly, “hope” is not a strategy or tactic that will achieve this goal. But real civic leadership – such as fully supporting local law enforcement, instead of blaming the PPB Police Chief – might yet do so.
© 2022 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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