Child’s bed struck by bullets in SE Portland shooting
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Bullets flew into a child’s bedroom and struck a bed during Friday night’s Hazelwood shooting, said Portland police. It was 1 of 7 shootings that were reported in the city over the weekend.
“Multiple firearms are being used, different times, different places,” said Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen. “It’s evident that these shootings are not just one person going around throughout the city committing them.”
It happened just after 8 p.m. at the Hazel Heights Apartments off Southeast Stark Street. Investigators determined that a car was the real target of the shooting, but 2 occupied apartments were hit as well. In one of those apartments, a bullet hit a child’s bed.
“There’s 4 kids that live in that house,” said resident Jessie Hillard, including his own daughter. “And 4 or 5 bullets hit it for no reason. There wasn’t even nobody in the car—it was pointless.”
Thankfully, no children were in the room at the time and no one was injured. Apartment management is helping them move to an unoccupied unit where they hope to feel safer and avoid being caught in crossfire again.
“Just like that, it could be gone, we could be one of the statistics on the news for no reason,” said Hillard.
There was another shooting Friday night in the Lloyd District that sent one man to the hospital. In that case, there was evidence that more than one gun was used and police believe it’s possible there were more victims as well. On Saturday, a man driving in the St. Johns neighborhood was grazed by a bullet, and there were shootings across other East Portland neighborhoods where cars and homes were hit.
All of this happened just days after Mayor Ted Wheeler, the Police Commissioner, and Police Chief Danielle Outlaw held a town hall in Lents to talk about gun violence. During that meeting, they said the PPB is still dealing with a staffing shortage, which affects the Gun Violence Task Force, as well as the rest of their units.
Officers said now, more than ever, they need the community’s help to track down suspects. Anyone with information on the Hazelwood neighborhood shooting is urged to call Detective Jennifer Hertzler at 503.823.1040 or Detective Ryan Foote at 503.823.0781.
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