The City of Portland has seen 18 homicides in the city already this year, with five in the second half of March alone. On the heels of Portland’s deadliest shooting of the year over the weekend, the community is coming together to talk about doing something to prevent gun violence.
Deadly gun violence continues an epidemic that disproportionately affects young Black men. People met and announced some plans to change what is going on and ask others to help. The city’s Office of Violence Prevention is awarding $500,000 to five community-based organizations that are working at street level to reach young people. The city’s Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) has a variety of programs aimed at the issue, including spending $500,000 to fund five community-based groups that are working at street level to reach young people and others caught up in the violence.
The City of Portland is working with community-based organizations. Instead of doing the usual, they are taking an aim to help end gun violence. They did recognize that this issue disproportionately impacts young Black men. This comes after two of the three victims in a deadly Saturday afternoon shooting were Portland high school students.
Also, it was reported recently that three people are dead following a shooting early Saturday afternoon near University Park in North Portland’s Portsmouth neighborhood. Police responded around 12:30 p.m. to report a shooting near the intersection of North Foss Avenue and North Foss Court. Three people died in the shooting, according to a Portland Police Bureau public information officer at the scene.
The suspect or suspects left the scene before police arrived, according to the news release, and no arrests have been made. Police did not release any other details about the circumstances of the shooting. On April 15, a “Stop The Violence” rally will take place at 1 p.m. at Jefferson High School in North Portland. There will be numerous events including youth basketball games, and ways to get involved in helping young people find better paths in life.
