Portland homeless camp shooting turns deadly, police overwhelmed by wave of homicides



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A shooting at a homeless camp in Portland early Tuesday sparked a strong response from police – authorities say at least two people were killed and several others were injured.

Shots rang out around 5:21 a.m. in the 3600 block of 82nd Avenue Northeast – between Freemont Street and Beech Street, according to several outlets. At least two people were killed, Fox 12 reported, and several others were injured, although police have refused to provide an exact number at this time.

Witnesses told KATU that several gunshots could be heard in the area’s homeless camp.

PORTLAND POLICE NOT INTERVENING AS ANTIFA, PROUD BOYS FIGHT IN THE STREETS

Lt. Greg Pashley of the Portland Police Department described to Fox 12 the burden his detectives face – as police are already investigating two more homicides in recent days.

“Detectives have a lot of work to do, in addition to all the other cases they are already working on,” she told the outlet. “This is the same group of detectives who answer all of this. So there is no rest for them and our hearts always go out to the victims and their families.”

No suspects have been taken into custody, KATU reported, and police have not provided further updates to outlets yet. The northeast of 82nd Avenue, from the northeast of Sandy Boulevard to the northeast of Klickitat Street, will remain closed for several hours as police vehicles and a command van are on the scene.

Fox News has contacted the Portland Police Department for comment, but has not received a response.

The two deaths on Tuesday bring the total number of homicides in Portland this year to 58, Fox News has learned. This compares to the 54 from last year. Tuesday’s incident also makes 2021 the city’s deadliest year since 1994, when 55 people were killed.

In the past six weeks alone, the Portland Enhanced Community Safety Team has recorded an average of 30 shooting incidents per week in the liberal city. As of Monday, there had been around 732 shootings so far in 2021, with around 237 people injured by gunshot wounds.

That is on average one person injured per day, police said.

A man was shot and killed just before 5:30 p.m. on a TriMet bus in southeast Portland on Sunday.

Three people were injured in separate shootings across Portland on Saturday alone. Officers responded at around 2:11 a.m. to a shooting northeast of 148th Avenue and east of Burnside Street. A victim was rushed to hospital with a serious but non-fatal gunshot wound, police said.

Officers found another victim who presented to hospital at around 8:58 p.m. with a non-life threatening gunshot wound. Police determined the victim was injured in a separate shooting earlier at Northeast 140th Avenue and Northeast Sandy Boulevard in the Argay Terrace neighborhood.

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The third incident happened at around 11:49 p.m. when an individual waved to passers-by in the 11900 block of North Center Avenue, telling them he had been shot. Officers arrived and provided medical attention until an ambulance came to transport the individual to hospital.

In non-fatal clashes this weekend, Antifa came down at a Christian worship event at Portland’s waterfront. Clashes then ensued in the streets with the Proud Boys. Antifa reportedly threw projectiles and deployed gas, fireworks exploded in the streets and the Proud Boys fired paintball guns.

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