Portland once again goes a month without a homicide – 2nd time this year

Portland

has not recorded

a homicide

in a month, the second time this year, as the city recovers from years of record violence.

The last homicide that took place in the city was May 11, when

Portland police officers responded

to an isolated side street near the Steel Bridge and Northwest Naito Parkway and found a

49-year-old man

shot dead.

But between May 12 and Thursday as well as between March 21 and April 21, Portland didn’t record a single homicide. Portland has recorded 14 homicides so far this year, compared with 34 at this point last year and 39 in 2023.

“I am proud that, for the second time this year, Portland has experienced a month without a homicide,” Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement. “Every family, community leader, and individual who works to keep our neighborhoods safe has played a part in this progress.”

The gaps in these two months come after a particularly deadly March, when the city saw seven homicides. Portland Police Chief Bob Day then stood in front of reporters and called the violence unacceptable.

It’s not clear what to expect in the coming months, and police are cautious as violence tends to rise in the summer months. But police spokesperson Mike Benner said in a statement the period of no homicides was “a meaningful reflection of the ongoing efforts by PPB members and the dedication of our community partners.”

Shootings in Portland have also declined, by about 34% compared with last year, according to police data. The city has recorded 263 shootings from the beginning of the year through Wednesday – including 50 that resulted in injuries – compared with 396 in the same period last year. The numbers still remain higher than pre-pandemic levels when Portland saw 199 shootings in the first six months of 2019.

For Roy Moore, the numbers are an indication of the work being done by violence prevention organizations. The co-director of the community care team at

Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center

, Moore said the longtime nonprofit has a little over 59 individuals on their caseload that they’re checking in with who are among the highest risk of being involved in future shootings.

“We’re addressing high-risk individuals, and we know that they’re going to have an impact on gun violence,” Moore said. “I think we’ve done a good job of really targeting that population.”

For the summer months, POIC is preparing and anticipating an uptick in violence, with hospital visits already increasing, Moore said. But he’s encouraged that with increases to their staff, POIC can continue to build on the work done in recent months.

Portland’s Interim Deputy City Administrator Bob Cozzie credited the partnership between the city’s violence intervention program Ceasefire, the Office of Violence Prevention, law enforcement and community organizations.

“There is still a great deal of work to be done and it takes all of us working together to save lives,” Cozzie said. “I am eager to maintain the positive momentum we have gained and keep pushing us forward as a city.”

In some shootings this year, young people were among the victims. Last week, a 15-year-old was

shot and wounded

in Northeast Portland. And at the start of spring break this year, a

Roosevelt High School student was wounded

in a shooting in North Portland.

And in at least three of this year’s homicides, either the suspect or the victim was unhoused.

“We still have ground to make up in communities where gun violence remains endemic, especially among our unsheltered,” Wilson said.

—

Zaeem Shaikh covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-221-4323,

zshaikh@oregonian.com

or on X

@zaeemshake

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