With shootings and murders in Hazelwood, Pleasant Valley, Madison South, and Lents neighborhoods, the recent bloodbath continues …
As bloodshed from shootings continue in outer East Portland, officers go from one call, to another.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
This past week – the last week in June – was the week that the COVID-19 coronavirus was considered to be reduced as a threat in Oregon. But, sadly, this was not the week that another pandemic – violent people using guns to injure and kill others – was vanquished.
The three days of scorching hot weather did somewhat reduce the number of “Shots Fired” calls on which Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers were sent. Nonetheless, two men died of gunshot wounds – as the community waits for the latest “Gun Violence Prevention” plan announced, weeks ago by Mayor Ted Wheeler, to yield positive results.
June 25
Suspicious death in Pleasant Valley becomes homicide case
Officers look for evidence, after a deceased man is found along a neighborhood street.
Around noon on Friday, June 25, along the eastern edge of the Pleasant Valley neighborhood – on SE 147th Avenue near Clatsop Street – residents called the 9-1-1 Center to report what appeared to be a lifeless body. Portland Fire & Rescue was sent to the area, and upon arrival the crew reported to dispatchers that the individual was deceased, and the circumstances looked suspicious.
PPB East Precinct officers arrived and quickly confirmed that the death was, indeed, suspicious in nature. PPB Homicide Division detectives began an investigation.
Officials say that this man, 47-year-old Olance A. Upton, was killed by gunfire. Family photo, provided by PPB
The following day, officials revealed that an Oregon State Medical Examiner had conducted an autopsy and determined the victim died from a gunshot wound, ruling the death a homicide – and identified the victim as 47-year-old Olance A. Upton of Portland.
If you have information about this incident, please contact Detective Joseph Corona at Joseph.Corona@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0508; or, Detective Anthony Merrill Anthony.Merrill@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-4033. No case number has been provided.
June 25
Three teens, in stolen car, arrested in Hazelwood shooting
Mere days after a shooting here, along SE 122nd Avenue, a rampage of shootings, allegedly by teens joyriding in a stolen car, begins.
Two days after the earlier-reported shooting on SE 122nd Avenue at Ash Street on June 23 [last story: Drive-by shooter wrecks car; arrested in Hazelwood], gunshots again broke out in that area.
On June 25, PPB East Precincts officers were dispatched at 5:40 p.m. to the intersection of East Burnside and SE 122nd Avenue on a report of shots having been heard.
Not only did officers locate a crime scene there, but as a bonus they also found a related secondary crime scene not far away, near SE Ash and SE 117th Avenue.
“Officers located several occupied vehicles which had been struck by gunfire, but none of the occupants sustained injury,” a PPB spokesperson reported.
While PPB’s Enhanced Community Safety Team (ECST) began to arrive, a stolen vehicle associated with the shooting suspects was identified, and this information was provided to patrol officers.
Before the sun sets, officers move in to stop the stolen vehicle.
“Shortly after clearing the shooting scene, at 8:41 p.m., the officers located a ‘suspect vehicle’ near SE 160th Avenue and Division Street, and attempted to make a traffic stop. The vehicle accelerated to elude officers – who, based on the vehicle’s connection to the earlier shooting, began pursuing it,” the Police Bureau official said
Officers on duty in the area were diverted the spot at which the pursuit ended, including a PPB K9 team, converging at East Burnside Street and SE 148th Avenue. Although the three teens in it bolted from the car and tried to run off, they were all safely taken into custody.
It’s unclear whether two of the three juvenile suspects actually spent more than a few hours here, in the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center, after all of them were charged with Felony Attempted Assault crimes related to the shooting spree.
Three juvenile suspects were charged in connection with this incident:
- A 16 year-old male was lodged at Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center for Attempt Murder II, Attempt Assault II, and Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
- A 16 year-old male was lodged at Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center for Assault III, Attempt Elude Vehicle, and Unlawful Use of a Motor Vehicle.
- A 17 year-old male was released to a guardian and referred to juvenile court for Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle and Attempt Elude on Foot.
This investigation is ongoing; if you have information, video or tips, contact the PPB at crimetips@portlandoregon.gov and reference Case No. 21-172602.
June 28
Gunshots kill man atop Rocky Butte
Investigators are trying to discover why 20-year-old Alexzander J. Hensey was shot to death atop Rocky Butte, and who it was who murdered him. Family photo, provided by PPB
The small-but-tidy Joseph Wood Hill Park atop Rocky Butte provides stunning views of outer East Portland. However, it’s also where the life of 20-year-old Alexzander J. Hensey ended.
The murder was discovered on Monday, June 28, when dispatchers sent officers to the area at 4:30 a.m., on a report of a deceased man. PPB Homicide Division detectives were called out to investigate the incident.
Finding the deceased man, officers call in PPB Homicide Division detectives.
The following day, an official with the Oregon State Medical Examiner revealed that an autopsy had determined that Hensey had died from gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.
If you have information about this incident you are asked to contact Detective Michael Jones Michael.Jones@portlandoregon.gov or Detective Ryan Foote 503-823-823-0781 Ryan.Foote@portlandoregon.gov.
June 30
Domestic dispute leads to shooting in Lents, along the Avenue of Roses
Near a popular 7-Eleven convenience store, officers get out of their vehicle to investigate a shooting that took place there.
After neighbors called the 9-1-1 Center to report hearing a loud verbal dispute – and at least one gunshot – a little after sunrise on Wednesday, June 30, on SE 82nd Avenue of Roses at Flavel Street.
PPB East Precinct officers were dispatched to investigate at 6:33 a.m. that morning.
“An officer responded to a disturbance call, involving a weapon, at the convenience store on that corner,” PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Kevin Allen said, after looking into the incident.
Additional officers dispatched to the crime were advised by dispatchers that a suspect had departed on a TriMet bus headed toward Clackamas. Officers headed south along the Avenue of Roses, and saw a person, matching the suspect’s description, get off the bus at the Johnson Creek Fred Meyer store.
“Officers arrested the suspect, and recovered a handgun as evidence,” Sgt. Allen told East Portland News.
In the meantime, officers at the convenience store found evidence of gunfire. One truck parked in the lot sustained a bullet strike,” Sgt Allen reported. “The person who was shot at left without speaking to police, but was contacted later, and was confirmed to be unhurt.”.
The PPB Special Victims Unit responded to investigate the incident.
Facing three felony charges in connection with this shooting is 37-year-old Shaperriia Loretta Lambert.
Officers took 37-year-old Shaperriia Loretta Lambert into custody; she was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 11:07 a.m. that morning, on charges of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (domestic violence), Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon (domestic violence), and Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
At her arraignment, Lambert learned that the Criminal Mischief charge had been dropped, but she’d still face the three other Felony charges, and she is still in custody in the MCDC, in lieu of $265,000 combined bail.
© 2021 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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