PORTLAND, Oregon — Workers and tourists remain frightened after a downtown Portland shooting in the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday in a busy part of the city. One person died and another was injured when a man shot them following a road rage incident, according to court documents.
"It was just chaos," said Naomi Lake, who is staying at the Moxy Portland hotel at the same intersection where the shooting happened on Southwest 10th Avenue and Southwest Alder Street. She had just landed in Portland for a wedding and was trying to check into her hotel room Wednesday evening, when she was greeted by police.
"They wouldn't let us come in the front door and there was police tape everywhere, and they wouldn't let us come in because it was an active crime scene," Lake said.
Portland police identified the suspect early Thursday morning as 46-year-old Geoffrey Hammond. Court documents say he was idling in front of the Moxy, partially blocking traffic. A man named Ryan Martin drove up behind him and the two "exchanged middle fingers." Martin got out of his vehicle and walked up to Hammond's vehicle, tapping on his window, a probable cause affidavit said.
According to documents, Hammond then shot Martin in the chest. Hammond also shot a second man in the leg who had walked out of the Moxy hotel where he was attending a conference, and started recording video of Hammond, documents said.
Martin died on scene. The homicide was the third in four days in the downtown area.
"I've been here before and I really enjoyed it but now I don't know if I want to stay down here," Lake said.
Downtown workers are becoming increasingly anxious of risks downtown.
"What am I risking everyday coming down here to work," Jordain Hayter, who works at Wildfang, a clothing store a block away from the shooting, said. She said she's gotten used to hearing sirens downtown. Initially, she didn’t think much about a large police presence.
"We just heard a whole bunch of patrol cars, ambulances,” Hayter said. “But that's just a normal day down here."
Eventually, staff realized that a couple of people had been shot, making Hayter more uneasy.
A worker at another store told KGW that people ran into his store and asked him to lock the door. They huddled inside for about 25 minutes.
Despite high crime, Hayter said she is still optimistic about the future of downtown. Though, for now, she’s worried about being downtown routinely.
"Everyday— it's like what am I going to see?” Hayter said. “What's going to happen? That's making me a little more uneasy traveling down here every day."