PORTLAND, Ore. — A man accused of shooting and killing one person and injuring another in downtown Portland Wednesday afternoon is facing a murder charge. Portland police identified the suspect early Thursday morning as 46-year-old Geoffrey Hammond.
Police officers responded to the shooting just after 4:30 p.m. near Southwest 10th Avenue and Southwest Alder Street. The officers found two victims, both believed to be men, and tried to provide medical aid to one of them, but that person died, Portland police said. The other person was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive. Police have not identified the two people.
KGW spoke to someone who witnessed the shooting in progress and preferred to remain nameless. She said that she was pulling up to a stoplight at the intersection when she noticed a man walking across the street.
"I thought it was odd that he had jumped out of his car and left his car door open," she said. "And then I noticed the people on the sidewalks had concerned looks on their faces ... and that's when I saw him walk over to the car with the shooter."
The driver of the vehicle, which she described as a black Mercedes SUV, lifted up a gun and shot the man who'd approached on foot. The victim fell to the ground. After seeing that, the witness said she rolled down her window, taking a picture of the shooter's car and license plate.
"I called 911, and he shot another gentleman on the sidewalk and then fired again the third time," she said, "and then he took off around the corner."
She said the second victim, the one who survived, was just a bystander.
"It's traumatic. It's horrific. And our government needs to do something to clean this city up and help not let this happen again," the witness said through tears.
Another woman at the scene, Alyssa Isenstein Krueger, said she was walking out of her doctor's office when she saw a man on the ground who had been shot in the leg and was screaming.
"People were trying to help him, calling 911," she said. She said she then walked around the corner, and saw another man lying on the ground and someone was helping him.
"They were looking for a doctor, so I ran around screaming, 'Is there a doctor?''' she said. "I ran into Jake's (Grill), screaming, 'Is there a doctor?'"
Isenstein Krueger said she was there with the man when he died from his injuries.
"It was taking forever for the emergency people to come. And then I just sat there and held his hand, and he passed," she said.
Siobhan McGrath, who had been shopping in a nearby store, said she didn't see the shooting but heard popping noises that she initially thought were the sound of a MAX train on the rails nearby, but moments later two people ran into the store and said they had witnessed a shooting.
She said everyone in the store moved to the back to get away from the windows.
"I was just thinking about all the drills we did in school, where you know, it's the duck and get away from the windows," she said.
The suspect, Hammond, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. He faces multiple charges including murder in the second degree with a firearm, attempted murder in the second degree with a firearm, assault in the first degree with a firearm, and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
Hammond is scheduled to be arraigned in court Thursday afternoon.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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