Police in Portland responded to three gang-related shootings in less than nine hours Thursday and Friday, with one injury and property damage reported. A man was injured in Northeast Portland just after midnight Friday when a bullet grazed his head, according to Lt. Robert King of the Portland Police Bureau. The suspected gang member was driving near NE 125th Avenue and NE Sandy Boulevard when he was shot by someone in the car behind him. That shooting took place about eight hours after North Portland’s Peninsula Park was cleared out due to an exchange of gunfire Thursday afternoon. Background: North Portland park evacuated after shootout Five hours later, at around 9 p.m., an exchange of gunfire damaged several apartments and a car near SE 129th Avenue and SE Division Street. A suspect was hit by a car while running from the scene, but he got up and kept running. More: Suspect hit by car after SE Portland shootout The string of gang-related shootings comes amid 'Operation Safe Summer,' a plan launched in June that doubled the number of gang enforcement and gun task force officers. No suspects were located in connection with any of the three shootings. King says the violence must be stopped before innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire. “Gang members, when they shoot guns in the city -- especially in and around parks like Peninsula Park yesterday -- demonstrate an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” he said Friday.. The gang enforcement team has been called out to investigate 67 violent crimes in 2012.
0 comments:
Post a Comment