Lents man murdered along I-205 Multi-use Path

Here’s what we know about a man gunned down in the Lents neighborhood …

-1 Police block off access to an outer East Portland road, after gunshots ring out and a man drops in the street.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

A man was killed the evening of October 7, along SE 94^th Avenue — just west of where the Lents neighborhood was split in half by the I-205 Freeway, and the street opens to the ODOT Multi-use Path.

“When we moved here, we thought it would be nice, living right along the trail; but there are drugs, transients, and fights here all the time because they can ride in on bikes, and escape before the cops get here,” across-the-street neighbor Margarita Santos-Russo sadly told East Portland News the day after the fatal incident.

At 11:47 p.m. that evening, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers were called to 94th Avenue, between SE Gladstone and Boise Streets, when several people – including Santos-Russo – called the 9-1-1 Center to report hearing gunshots in the area.

-2 After pulling up to the scene, paramedics try their best to save the wounded man, who eventually dies before he could be transported to a hospital.

“Arriving officers located an injured adult male lying in the street, and provided the man with emergency first aid until emergency medical responders arrived at the scene,” reported PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Christopher Burley.

Paramedics couldn’t save the man – they determined him to be deceased, Burley added. “Officers searched the area for any suspects involved in this shooting, but no suspects were located.”

Soon, members of the Bureau’s Detective Division Homicide Detail came to the area, as well as Forensics Evidence Division criminalists, there to find evidence and interview neighbors.

“Based on preliminary information, there does not appear to be a danger to the community in relation to this investigation,” Burley remarked.

-3 Officials say that this man, 21-year-old Izryl T. Johnson, died as a result of “homicidal violence” after being shot.

Later, Burley revealed that the man shot was 21-year-old Izryl T. Johnson. “A member of the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Johnson died as a result of homicidal violence.”

As detectives with the Homicide Detail continue to investigate this murder, they ask that anyone with information about it contact Detective Mark Slater at 503-823-9319, Mark.Slater@portlandoregon.gov – or Detective Erik Kammerer at 503-823-0762, Erik.Kammerer@portlandoregon.gov.

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