PORTLAND, Ore. — A home near Southeast 84th and Clinton was riddled with bullets Thursday night. One of the bullets went through a 3-year-old girl's bedroom. She was not in there. The family was lucky, but that is not the case for everybody.
"It's the kind of pain you don't understand until you've been through it," said Jennifer Adams. "The crying is so deep inside."
Adams lost her brother-in-law, a father of three, to gun violence in mid-January. His brother-in-law was also shot and killed in the same Southeast Portland shooting.
Just days earlier, several vehicles and homes along Northeast Thompson were struck by gunfire in one of seven shootings over a 12-hour span.
"You hear about this stuff and hope it doesn't happen in your backyard until it does," said a young woman who was staying in a home hit by bullets.
There have been more than 90 shootings in January. That compares to 51 in January 2020. There were more than 890 shootings in 2020. There were 500 fewer shootings in 2019.
Gun violence in Portland is out of control. There is no other way to put it. Public information officers with the Portland Police Bureau will typically address the issue if asked. KGW thought it was about time city leaders do the same.
We reached out to all four Portland City commissioners, as well as Mayor Ted Wheeler, via email and Twitter. We wanted to know what they think of the violence. Could the dismantling of the Gun Violence Reduction Team have something to do with it?
Aside from an automated response from Dan Ryan's office and some back-and-forth with staffers for Mingus Mapps and Jo Ann Hardesty, the three city commissioners had nothing to say.
A spokesperson for Mayor Wheeler's office directed KGW to comments he made several days ago.
"GVRT is gone. It's dead. It's kaput," said Mayor Wheeler. "Now the question is what replaces it, and what replaces it will have more prevention focus, more community engagement focus and it'll have support of the community."
That remains to be seen. What is clear is that those most impacted by the gun violence have no problem speaking up and demanding justice.
"We're all heartbroken and hurt," said Adams.
Anyone with information about any shooting is urged to contact the Portland Police Bureau.