Portland police officers investigate a shooting in this 2021 file photo taken in North Portland. Police responded to nine shootings last weekend in a year with 788 shootings as of July 31, which is 67 more than the same time period in the previous year.
Jonathan Levinson / OPB
The Portland Police Bureau reported nine shootings last weekend. The shootings resulted in nine injuries and two deaths.
Eight of the shootings happened on August 28, more than over twice the daily average so far this year, according to police bureau statistics.
Stephenic Hall, 54, was found dead with a gunshot wound in the Centennial neighborhood. Little additional information has been provided. His death was ruled a homicide, police said.
Cameron Taylor, 20, was found Sunday evening in the Eliot neighborhood with gunshot wounds. He was leaving a crowded illegal street takeover event, at which at least three other people were also shot, according to the Oregonian. His death was ruled a homicide, police said.
Taylor was the 65th person to be killed in Portland this year.
In a statement, Taylor’s family said he was hit by a stray bullet when the shooting broke out, but that they do not have more information about the police investigation.
Taylor had four brothers and enjoyed playing football with them. He also loved cars and helped friends and family build and fix their cars.
“The gun violence has to end so no other family has to say goodbye to their child or loved one,” the family said in the statement.
In addition to the three people shot and wounded at the illegal street takeover, two people were shot and injured in the Hazelwood neighborhood, one woman was shot outside a house in the Centennial neighborhood, a man was shot while dumpster diving, and two were shot in the Overlook neighborhood. Another person suspected of firing shots was in her car and wouldn’t tell police what happened. One more person held a rideshare driver at gunpoint, but did not shoot her.
While there were more shootings last weekend than usual, it’s just the latest example of an upward trend in gun violence in Portland and the state since 2020. There have been 788 shootings in Portland as of July 31 this year, which is 67 more than last year and 415 more than in 2020 during the same time frame.
The deadly trend continues, despite the city spending $11.8 million since the beginning of 2021 on various programs, initiatives and grants to reduce gun violence.
Across the state, gun purchases hit an all time high in 2020. There were fewer guns bought in 2021, but still about 60,000 more than was typical in 2017, 2018 and 2019. That’s based on the best proxy data available – from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System and reported on annually by the Oregon State Police. Up until July 31 of this year, there have been 231,636 background checks in Oregon, which is less than the number of background checks done last year for the same time period.
Data from the Oregon Health Authority shows that the number of deaths from firearms increased as well, from 519 in 2018 to 593 in 2020, the most recent year with data.
In 2020, 76.7% of gun deaths were from suicide and 18.5% were from homicides.