Man dies in shooting at Hazelwood neighborhood market

UPDATED | SHOOTING REPORT | INVESTIGATION VIDEO | See what neighbors have to say about this shooting near, at, or in an outer East Portland convenience store – and learn what little official information there is about this tragic incident …

After a fatal shooting in, or near, a Hazelwood neighborhood convenience market, Portland Police Bureau officer block off northbound SE 139th Avenue at Mill Street.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

On a day that the sun didn’t shine – as the “atmospheric river” flowed across outer East Portland on Tuesday, December 9 – a after sunset, shots rang out near the 1700 block of SE 139th Avenue.

PPB East Precinct officers who were dispatched at 5:26 p.m. to a reporting shooting incident began to gather in front of the 3D’S Market at 1739 SE 139th, a half-block north of SE Mill Street, and just across the street from the campus of Savage Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Watch as officers, and arriving investigators, maintain this crime scene:

An ambulance was idling on SE Mill Street, just west of the intersection, standing by to take the shooting victim to a local trauma center hospital.

“Officers arrived and found a man who was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound,” a PPB spokesperson wrote in a release at the time. “Officers immediately requested paramedics who arrived and pronounced the victim deceased.”

The red police tape stretched across SE 139th Avenue marks the crime scene.

An officer guards the market’s porch, near the entrance.

Walking up to the police barricade tape tied across SE 139th Avenue along Mill Street in the mist of that very wet evening, neighbors commented. “An officer says it was an armed robbery at our little neighborhood market,” a man told East Portland News.

After the original posting identifying the incident as a shooting, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications sent out a notice of an incident description – at the exact location – as “Robbery-with-Weapon”.

“I think it was a guy who worked at the store that got shot, but I hope not – he was a really nice guy,” remarked a woman near the crime scene.

“That market has a high-definition 4K video [surveillance] system; cops should be able to get good, clear pictures, both inside and outside,” a man said.

Officers and investigators look at surveillance video captured during the incident.

PPB Homicide Division detectives later responded to the scene and investigated.

When asked about the victim, PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Kevin Allen updated information about the incident two days later, on December 11th: “I can now confirm that the man who was killed was an employee of a convenience store.

“But, further details cannot be released, because doing so could compromise the integrity of the homicide investigation,” Sergeant Allen told East Portland News. “We’re not discussing anything about what led up to the shooting. The Medical Examiner has confirmed to us that the victim died of homicide by gunshot wound.”

Police vehicles are moved to allow the PPB’s Mobile Command Center to park near the crime scene.

Updated December 15

Portland Police identified the homicide victim on December 15 as 33-year-old Santi Ram Rai of Portland. “The investigation has determined that Rai was killed while working in a convenience store,” a PPB spokesperson confirmed.

The Medical Examiner has confirmed that the victim died of homicide by gunshot wound.

This family-provided photo shows the shooting victim, Santi Ram Rai, doing what he loved, making music.

According to Anthony Moreschi, family friend, speaking on behalf of the deceased wife, Phul Maya Rai, said that Rai was one of the Bhutanese Oregon Kirat Society’s members. “He was working at the market when an armed group entered the store, robbed it, and shot our brother in the chest, killing him before fleeing the scene.”

This memorial in front of the neighborhood store where Santi Rai was murdered continues to grow in size.

He leaves behind his wife, a 9-year-old son, a 5-year-old daughter and elderly parents.

You can help by donating on the GoFundMe page that’s been set up to help support the family: CLICK HERE.

If you have information to share about this murder, please send an email to Homicidetips@police.portlandoregon.gov or call 503-823-0479 – and reference Case Number 25-336971.

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