Week #78 Shooting Report | City leaders remain mum, after deadly gunshots punctuate New Year’s Day morning in outer East Portland …
It wasn’t always the sound of firecrackers welcoming the New Year – there were also gunshots, bringing Portland Police Bureau officers to investigate – long before dawn breaks, on the first day of 2022 in outer East Portland.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Hopes for a “Happier New Year” – one without criminals using guns to murder people in outer East Portland – were dashed just two hours into 2022. Gunfire shattered the early morning silence in the Argay Terrace neighborhood.
>> Following our coverage of this tragic double homicide in Argay Terrace, a shoot-out in the Centennial neighborhood, and another shooting murder in Gresham – all within the first couple hours of the New Year – you’ll find how Portland’s Police Commissioner, Mayor Ted Wheeler, responded to our request for a comment. We also have your “Shots Fired Log” for the week.
Two die in Argay Terrace shooting to start 2022
NE 131st Avenue is closed between NE Sandy Boulevard and Prescott Drive, while PPB Homicide Division detectives, and police officers, begin investigating the first deadly shooting – it was a double homicide – of the New Year 2022.
It was clear that the situation was grim when twelve Portland Police Bureau (PPB) North Precinct officers, four ambulances, and Portland Fire & Rescue Cully Station’s Engine Company 12 were all dispatched on January 1st at 1:48 a.m. to the 4400 block of NE 131st Place, a half-block south of Sandy Boulevard.
In addition to cordoning off NE 131st Place, officers also taped off the large strip-mall parking lot just east of there – and, to the west of that street, the driveway of condominium rowhouses, as well as the entrance of Darrin’s Place Apartments complex.
Officers look for spent bullet casings.
Substantiation of this deadly shooting is not difficult to find, for responding officers.
“When officers arrived, they found three male victims,” reported PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Kevin Allen.
“Paramedics found one of the victims had died at the scene; another shooting victim was taken to a local hospital, but did not survive. A third male victim was also transported by ambulance; his injuries are believed to be non-life threatening. No suspects were immediately located, and no arrests have been made at this time,” Sgt. Allen reported.
An uncle and a nephew, Andre Lashun Foster (left) and Quayan Johnell Foster, are dead at the hands one, or perhaps more individuals with guns. Family-provided images
The two victims of this shooting were later identified as 43-year-old Andre Lashun Foster, and his nephew, 21-year-old Quayan Johnell Foster, both of Portland.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause and manner of death of both individuals to be “homicide by gunshot wound”.
Markers placed over found bullet casings littered this driveway, after the first shooting homicides of the year took place.
If you have any information about this incident, please contact Detective Shaye Samora at Shaye.Samora@portlandoregon.gov at 503-823-0768; or, Detective Erik Kammerer at Erik.Kammerer@portlandoregon.gov at 503-823-0762 – and let them know this is regarding Case No. 22-71.
Party in Centennial likely leads to massive shoot-out
While PPB North Precinct officers are called to a homicide scene, East Precinct officers come to looking into another shooting.
About the same time as the deadly Argay Terrace shooting, PPB East Precinct officers were dispatched to a “Disturbance” call at 1:55 a.m. in the intersection of SE 174th Avenue and Division Street. But by the time officers arrived, there was no longer any commotion in the area.
Then, officers were dispatched to that same intersection again, at 3:08 a.m. — this time on a “Shooting-with Weapon” call. Ambulances were also dispatched there. This time, officers found about 90 shell casings littering the intersection.
These are some of the 90 shell casings found after the Centennial neighborhood shootout.
“These two incidents were probably related, but we’re not 100% sure of that,” PPB Public Information Officer Lt. Nathan Sheppard told East Portland News. “There were no known victims hit at this shooting – blood was found near the scene, but it was determined to be old and dried – so medical response was dismissed.”
If you have information about this incident, please reference Case No. 22-110 when you email tips to crimetips@portlandoregon.gov.
Gresham Police investigate New Year’s Day deadly shooting
After discovering a homicide, Gresham Police Department officers close off streets in the area.
Then, at 2:13 p.m. on New Year’s Day afternoon, Gresham Police Department (GPD) officers were dispatched on reports of a shooting in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 700 block of SE 187th Avenue – just 1.6 miles northeast of the Centennial shootout earlier that morning.
“Officers located a person who had died as a result of the shooting, and officers quickly secured the scene and called investigators,” reported a GPD official. “Crime scene investigators are reviewing surveillance camera footage from the area apartment complexes, and from residents, to try to identify the suspect.”
If you have information about this homicide and have not yet talked to police, please call the Gresham Police Tip Line at 503-618- 2719 and refer to Case No. PG22-75.
“Shocking way to start the New Year”
Speaking with media after these shooting incidents, PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Kevin Allen remarked that this was “a shocking way to start the New Year”.
He pointed out that Portland saw a record number of shootings in 2021 – 1,400 incidents, resulting in 69 deaths. “This is a terrifying number of violent incidents; in addition to the death and trauma it causes, it also causes emotional injuries,” Sgt. Allen observed.
He added that, with the introduction of the PPB’s Focused Intervention Team, the number of shootings may be reduced in 2022. “This is a cause for optimism in our city. But at the same time, we also know that only twelve officers will not be able to fix a problem that has built up over a long period of time.”
No comment from Mayor Ted Wheeler
East Portland News contacted the Mayor’s office and asked for Mayor Ted Wheeler’s thoughts about the first two hours of the New Year within the City of Portland, and specifically in the Argay Terrace neighborhood, being marked two murders by gun violence?
So far, we have received no reply. In fact, as far as we know, no elected member of the Portland City Council has commented publicly on this tragic beginning to the New Year.
~ SHOTS FIRED LOG ~
In addition to deadly shootings, officers continue to be called to investigate “Shots Fired” calls in, and adjacent to, outer East Portland. This week, there were 39 such calls. Some of these reports may have been caused by New Year’s Eve firecrackers; officers don’t find evidence of shootings at every such call.
December 30
21-362762 12/30/2021 18:10:34 9900 Block of SE WASHINGTON ST
21-362814 12/30/2021 19:35:17 16100 Block of SE ALDER ST
21-362878 12/30/2021 20:52:03 7900 Block of SE RAYMOND CT
21-362915 12/30/2021 21:46:36 2800 Block of SE 127TH AVE
21-362931 12/30/2021 22:11:48 8600 Block of NE SACRAMENTO ST
December 31
21-363089 12/31/2021 02:25:54 4000 Block of NE 78TH AVE
21-363142 12/31/2021 05:20:10 9000 Block of SE POWELL BLVD
21-363377 12/31/2021 12:27:37 16900 Block of NE CAMERON BLVD
21-363458 12/31/2021 14:00:07 SE 117TH AVE / SE MARKET ST
21-363868 12/31/2021 23:49:24 5200 Block of SE FLAVEL ST
21-363874 12/31/2021 23:53:22 12800 Block of NE SANDY BLVD
January 1
22-0026 01/01/2022 00:29:23 8300 Block of SE BROOKLYN ST
22-0031 01/01/2022 00:31:34 SE 154TH AVE / SE STARK ST
22-0618 01/01/2022 17:33:30 SE 88TH AVE / SE MARKET ST
22-0709 01/01/2022 21:30:03 SE 50TH AVE / SE DIVISION ST
22-0746 01/01/2022 22:47:26 8300 Block of NE SANDY BLVD
22-0769 01/01/2022 23:27:11 1800 Block of NE 108TH AVE
January 2
22-0795 01/02/2022 00:16:20 800 Block of SE 149TH PL
22-0796 01/02/2022 00:20:21 9900 Block of NE SANDY BLVD
22-0919 01/02/2022 04:46:14 SE 130TH AVE / SE DIVISION ST
22-0929 01/02/2022 05:27:23 2500 Block of SE 119TH AVE
22-0928 01/02/2022 05:28:12 SE DIVISION ST / SE 130TH AVE
22-0952 01/02/2022 07:23:54 2300 Block of SE 130TH AVE
22-1391 01/02/2022 17:16:10 6200 Block of SE 82ND AVE
22-1509 01/02/2022 19:49:37 NE 99TH AVE / NE GLISAN ST
22-1515 01/02/2022 19:59:58 100 Block of SE 160TH AVE
22-1563 01/02/2022 21:24:55 SE 119TH AVE / SE CLINTON ST
22-1596 01/02/2022 22:44:11 12600 Block of E BURNSIDE ST
January 3
22-2093 01/03/2022 13:42:56 12600 Block of SE POWELL BLVD
22-2337 01/03/2022 20:07:58 11000 Block of NE PRESCOTT ST
22-2348 01/03/2022 20:21:57 2600 Block of SE 85TH AVE
22-2454 01/03/2022 22:34:43 5000 Block of NE 101ST AVE
January 4
22-2548 01/04/2022 01:21:30 NE 102nd Ave/NE Sacramento St
22-2779 01/04/2022 09:52:00 9000 Block of NE MARX DR
22-2790 01/04/2022 10:07:31 SE FOSTER RD / I205 FWY
22-3344 01/04/2022 22:59:51 700 Block of NE 99TH AVE
22-3454 01/05/2022 02:22:04 13500 Block of NE SANDY BLVD
January 5
22-3488 01/05/2022 03:47:46 SE 122ND AVE / SE STARK ST
22-3639 01/05/2022 08:37:46 5500 Block of SE 72ND AVE
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
With all of the problems we face from the epidemic and inflation, it is disheartening to start off this New Year with more death, at the hands of vicious people wielding guns.
© 2022 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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