PORTLAND, Ore (KOIN) — Portland’s homicide rates aren’t decreasing after another violent weekend in the city.
A woman was shot and killed in a popular Northwest Portland park Friday night, and on Sunday morning, a man was killed in the city’s Sumner neighborhood in Northeast Portland.
PPB says they responded to a shooting at Wallace Park near Chapman Elementary School just after 11 p.m. on Friday. Paramedics tried to treat the woman who was shot, but she died. In response to the shooting, officials from Portland Public Schools added increased security at Chapman Elementary this week.
On Sunday morning, police responded to a shooting in the Sumner neighborhood off Sandy Blvd. and found a man, later identified as 26-year-old Martese Oliver, who had been shot and killed.
“I find myself having to consider, would a suburban environment where perhaps I’m farther from this be better for me? These aren’t things I thought about growing up here. The city was safe,” said Jason Cigan, who was playing basketball at Wallace Park days after the fatal shooting. “Do I have to take measures for my own safety when I leave my apartment? Certainly, when I just come here to play basketball and find this was a murder scene two days ago, that factors into my daily calculus.”
According to Portland police, violent crime isn’t improving since it spiked last year. PPB says there have been 68 homicides so far this year, which comes after a record number of homicides in 2021 — there were 69 homicides at this time last year.
Stacy moved to Sumner eight years ago and says she hears gunfire more frequently lately. She loves her neighborhood, but the shootings worry her.
“There are things that happen right outside our door that makes us concerned about what the future might be or what direction things are moving in,” she said. “We see a lot of suffering people in this area.”
No arrests have been made in either homicide. If you know anything, contact the police.