Sometime after 7 p.m. Tuesday, Luci Monroe was enjoying the last rays of sunshine outside of her apartment building in Southeast Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood when she said she heard the terrifying but increasingly familiar sound of gunfire.
A single gunshot appeared to have come from a car driving on East Burnside Street and Northeast 122nd Avenue, she said. The car then sped off.
Monroe said she knew as soon as police arrived and put up crime scene tape across the street from the East 122nd Avenue MAX station that someone had been killed.
Tuesday night’s shooting marked the fourth homicide since August within about three blocks of the Blackburn Center, a drug treatment and housing program run by Central City Concern.
Portland police responded to the shooting at 8:10 p.m. and found a man dead. Police have revealed few details about the shooting thus far, including the identity of the victim.
Monroe, 29, said the victim was a man in his mid-20s named Justin. He was a fellow resident of the Blackburn Center, located kitty-corner from where she said the shooting happened.
Monroe said she met Justin about three years ago when she first moved into the center, but never learned his last name.
Laura Recko, a spokesperson for Central City Concern, said she could not comment on the incident as it is under a police investigation. Nor would she confirm whether the victim lived at the center.
“Our primary concern is for the health, safety and security of our residents, patients and the community surrounding the Blackburn Center,” she said in an email Wednesday to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s difficult when there’s any loss of life. CCC grieves along with all Portlanders.”
The Hazelwood neighborhood stretches east from Interstate 205 and is one of Portland’s largest. In recent years, it’s also ranked highest among neighborhoods for injury shootings.
On March 17, Curtis Davies, 62, was attacked inside the Max Mart Deli convenience store across the street from the Blackburn Center. He died two weeks later in the hospital.
Portland police found Brian Logan, 52, fatally shot on Nov. 13, near 122nd Avenue and Ash Street, about two blocks south. Three months earlier, officers found 40-year-old Scott Tovar fatally shot on East Burnside Street and 127th Avenue, about three blocks east of the Blackburn Center.
Monroe said Justin was funny and giving.
“He was troubled, but not a bad person,” she said. “I don’t think he was targeted – it was for someone else and he got shot.”
Monroe said she frequently hears and sees fights breaking out on the MAX platform across the street from the Blackburn Center, along with people using drugs.
Her friend, 27-year-old KayelaJ, was with Monroe when the shooting happened.
KayelaJ, who uses only her first name, said residents sometimes run out with Narcan to save people on the platform who appear to be overdosing.
“It takes a toll on us, saving people on drugs when we’re trying not to do drugs,” she said. “I try to stay out of it because I don’t want to be triggered.”
Recurring shootings and open drug use make the area feel unsafe, and both women said they hope to find other housing soon. Monroe has a 9-year-old daughter and she said she hasn’t felt comfortable bringing her to the neighborhood.
“It’s been three years and I’ve seen a lot – it hasn’t really changed,” Monroe said.
Crystal Kelly, 43, was perched on a ledge around noon Wednesday near where Monroe and KayelaJ said the shooting happened. Kelly, who has lived outside for the past nine years, said she knew Justin, who frequently spent time on that corner.
“He was my friend and a good person,” Kelly said.
Portland police urged anyone with information to contact detectives Scott Broughton at Scott.Broughton@police.portlandoregon.gov and (503) 823-3774 or Eric McDaniel at Eric.McDaniel@police.portlandoregon.gov and 503-823-0833.
— Catalina Gaitán, cgaitan@oregonian.com, @catalingaitan_
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