A new report is stating that mass shootings are getting national attention even though gun violence is an issue in many US cities, including Portland. Homicide rates appear to be dropping in some major U.S. cities, such as New York and Chicago, but in others killings are on the rise, particularly from guns.
In Portland, the homicide rate surged 207% since 2019 and there have been more than 800 shootings so far this year. In Phoenix, police Chief Jeri Williams said this week the gun violence was the worst she’d seen in 33 years on the job. High-profile shootings in U.S. cities draw headlines but masked the daily toll of gun violence in some of the same communities
People was watching an illegal street race that had attracted hundreds to an intersection in Portland, Oregon last week. The crowd grew increasingly unruly before gunfire erupted. One person was hit by a stray bullet as he and a friend headed to their car.
Police couldn’t control multiple street takeovers in the city that night. Portland police also had trouble finding the victims of three shootings that occurred during the chaos. In short Portland police dealt with three killings and nine non-fatal shootings in 48 hours. In addition, it couldn’t control three illegal street races that attracted hundreds and shut down major intersections for hours.
A recent rampage included a heavily armed assailant who stormed a central Oregon supermarket. Mass shootings are on the mind when dealing with gun violence now. The facts are; victims killed in mass shootings make up about 1% of all those killed in gun homicides nationwide. However, news media play these type of stories up for dollars made easier via headlines that instill fear in Americans.
The pandemic and the social unrest has caused people to pay more attention to violence. This fear created by ignorance had made many people (eight million) to become first-time gun owners. This happened between 2019 and 2021.
