Police have released few details about a fatal shooting Thursday evening, but others have taken to social media to identify the victim as Dominique Dunn, a Black man and target of a racist attack.
Dominique Dunn
Paula Byrd via Facebook
Police announced Friday they arrested Jordan Clark, 25, for murder in connection with the shooting. Authorities say he was booked at the Multnomah County Detention Center.
A little after 8 p.m. Thursday night, police responded to a shooting outside of Reveal Lounge, a strip club in Southwest Portland. The police say the shooting victim was pronounced dead at the scene, but have yet to release any more information.
On social media Friday, people identifying themselves as family members of Dunn said the shooter had called Dunn and his friends a racial slur before shooting.
Paula Byrd, who said Dunn was her cousin, wrote in a Facebook post that Dunn had been out with friends when a white man approached them and called them the n-word. She said her cousin continued on his way. The man then ran to his car, grabbed his gun and fired five shots.
“My cousin is dead. He didn’t deserve this,” she wrote. “#DominiqueDunn should not be a hashtag.”
Two other people, both of whom also said they were cousins of Dunn’s, posted similar accounts on social media. Curtis Byrd, who said he was Dunn's cousin, posted that Dunn had been killed “for being Black.” Neither could be immediately reached by OPB.
In a statement Friday afternoon, the Portland police said they were aware of “mis-information” circulating about the case and said there was “no information at this time to support race was a factor that played a role.”
An account of the shooting from the owner of the strip club corroborates some of what has been posted on social media. Reveal Lounge owner Javier Garcia said he’s reviewed tape of the incident and handed it over to the police.
According to Garcia, three Black men came up to the patio of the lounge where they met two other men. One appeared to be Hispanic and the other man, who ultimately shot at the group of Black men, appeared to be white. Garcia said he doesn’t know the names of anyone involved.
According to Garcia, the five men went into the club together for a few minutes before coming back out. They appeared to say their goodbyes outside the club. He emphasized it was clear the two groups knew each other.
“They were talking — it seemed like they were friends,” he said. “They were shaking hands and all of that. A video showed they were kind of hugging and shaking hands. They knew each other for sure.”
He said two groups then split off, with both groups headed for their respective cars. But the shooter came back and started firing at the group of Black men once they’d already entered their car.
“There was no argument. There was no fight. It was out of nowhere,” he said.
Garcia said he’s not sure how many shots were fired. He also can’t make out the audio from the video, so said, from his perspective, the question over whether or not the killing was racist “is a question mark.”
