Man arrested after deadly Montavilla neighborhood bar shooting

UPDATED: Deceased Identified | SHOOTING REPORT | A lot hasn’t been revealed yet, but here’s what we know about this – the most recent fatal shooting in outer East Portland …

Police rush to a local Montavilla establishment, minutes after “closing time”, when two men are shot.

By David F. Ashton

Shots split the night – and a man died, at Buddy’s Lounge, across from the large campus of Emmanuel Church on SE 82nd Avenue of Roses, in the Universal Center mini-mall at Harrison Street, early on Thursday morning, September 18th.

At 2:10 a.m., Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched to the crime scene. Arriving officers came across adult male, dead in the parking lot.

A man, determined to have “non-life-threatening injuries”, is rolled to an ambulance and taken to a local hospital.

According to PPB officials, a second man was injured and taken to a local hospital, but is expected to survive.

The death led to the PPB Homicide Unit detectives being called in, accompanied by the Bureau’s old Mobile Command Center, which is still stationed at East Precinct.

Officers said this man was “detained” at the scene, and taken away in a police cruiser – and he was later identified as the suspect.

Later that day, Portland Police revealed the shooting suspect to be 37-year-old Brandon Lewis. After his arrest, Lewis was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 1:31 p.m. and lodged on the following charges: Murder in the Second Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and Assault in the Second Degree.

He remains behind bars in the MCDC, currently being held without bail.

Shooting in, or outside, the lounge?
Buddy’s Lounge lists their closing time at 2:00 a.m., although in Oregon, the legal closing time for bars and lounges serving alcohol for on-premises consumption is actually 2:30 a.m.

So, it’s unclear if this “Deadly Shooting at Bar”, as Portland Police refer to it, took place in the bar, from which the wounded man staggered outside and died – or if there was a confrontation in the parking lot, after the bar had closed.

At sunrise, officers and detectives speak with family and friends of the murder victim at the the crime scene. Courtesy KGW-TV News 8

UPDATE:

Officials say that this man, Garvin Franklin Jr., was killed in this shooting. Family provided image

On September 22, Portland Police revealed that the victim in this shooting homicide has been identified as 45-year-old Garvin Franklin Jr, Portland.

The Medical Examiner determined Franklin died of homicide by gunshot wound.

If you have information about this case, contact homicidetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, or call 503-823-0479, and please refer to Case No. 25-257036.

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