PORTLAND, Ore. — Twin brothers from Gresham are facing federal charges for illegally purchasing 82 firearms from gun shops in the Portland area, dating back to April 2020. Officials said those guns have been linked to at least 10 shootings in the Portland area.
Edward Charles Green and Thomas Edward Green III, both 23, are self-identified members of the Unthank Park Hustlers, a local Bloods gang set, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon. They are charged with falsifying information in connection with the acquisition of a firearm and making false statements in a federal firearms licensee record.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) opened an investigation in May 2021, according to court documents, after receiving information from Gresham Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) that allegedly connected the Green brothers to several shootings. ATF agents had also received information that suggested they had made multiple illegal firearm purchases, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Between April 5, 2020 and August 30, 2021, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies recovered 12 firearms illegally purchased by the Green brothers, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
On April 5, 2020, Portland police responded to a shooting on Southeast Alder Street involving the Greens where a gun was fired from one apartment into another.
On April 23, 2020, Portland police officers responded to reports of a house struck by bullets on Northeast Sumner Street. Police found that the gun appeared to have been fired from inside the Greens' father's home, and the bullet left a small hole in the father's front window. He initially told police he threw a rock through his window, but changed his story and told officers the gun accidentally fired while he was showing his son how to clean it. Police found and seized three handguns and an AK-47 from the home. After reviewing Edward Green's purchase records, ATF agents found Green had purchased three of those four guns illegally.
Between Aug. 25 and Aug. 30, 2020, Portland police officers recovered four more guns that had been illegally purchased by Edward Green. Police recovered one after responding to a shooting outside the brothers' Southeast Portland apartment, and the others were seized when officers arrived at Portland Adventist Hospital to interview a gunshot victim and saw a vehicle parked outside with obvious signs of gunshot damage. Officers arrested the people in the car and found the firearms, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
On Nov. 11, 2020, MCSO deputies responded to a car crash in Fairview caused by gunfire involving Edward Green. Deputies later executed a search warrant on a backpack found in Green's vehicle and found two more pistols Green had purchased illegally and two pounds of packed marijuana.
On Jan. 23, 2021, MCSO deputies seized another firearm illegally purchased by Green during a traffic stop.
In May 2021, Gresham police officers responded to two separate shooting incidents at a house on Southwest Lillyben Avenue in Gresham. At the time of the shootings, both Edward and Thomas Green III listed that address on their driver's licenses. In the first shooting on May 12, someone fired several rounds into the house. In the second on May 22, someone fired 14 rounds into the house in a drive-by. Someone in the house fired 30 rounds in response, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, some of which struck other houses in the neighborhood.
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On June 3, 2021, members of the Metro Safe Streets Task Force, which includes officers and agents from the ATF, FBI, Gresham Police, Portland Police and MCSO, executed a search warrant at the home and found nine empty semi-automatic gun cases, several dozen spent bullets and cartridge casings, 27 firearm and rifle magazines, a range bag with more than 400 spent cartridges and five receipts for gun purchases made by the Green brothers. Forensic analysis of the spent cartridges later linked them to at least 10 different shootings in the Portland area between April 6, 2020 and July 11, 2021, according to court documents.
On July 23, 2021, Beaverton police officers stopped a vehicle with no license plates. While searching the vehicle, officers found a .40 caliber pistol purchased by Thomas Green III just four days prior.
On August 30, 2021, Portland police officers stopped a vehicle with four people inside, one a known member of the Hoover Criminal Gang, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Officers located a .40 caliber pistol illegally purchased by Edward Green several months earlier.
A review of ATF and State of Oregon records found the brothers illegally purchased 82 firearms in an 18-month period beginning in April 2020.
On Sept. 29, 2021, law enforcement raided an apartment occupied by Victor White, a felon and gang associate of the Greens, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Officers found and seized two semi-automatic firearms, 16 empty gun boxes and ammunition from the apartment. Thomas Green III was found sleeping in the apartment and arrested. He made his first appearance in federal court on Sept. 29 and was released to home confinement.
ATF agents arrested Edward Green on Oct. 6 at his father's home in Northeast Portland. He made his first federal court appearance the same day and was detained pending further court proceedings.
