‘Too close to home’: Portland has seen six fatal shootings in March so far, police say

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A deadly late-night shooting in East Portland Tuesday marked the sixth in March so far, with almost two weeks left in the month.

The six shootings so far in March is twice as many between January and February of this year combined. The three most recent happened fairly close together on the east side, but according to Portland police, they do not seem connected.

Over the last year and a half, there have been five months with six or more deadly shootings. Sergeant Kevin Allen with the Portland Police Bureau said they cannot speculate if March’s numbers are a trend or just an anomaly.

“What we caution the community to remember is that when we start talking about trends or if they hear about crimes like this, you know, major crimes that have happened like this in a short time span, that it sometimes just happens,” he said.

Allen said the last few weeks have been slower than normal, and it is common for PPB to see more activity when the weather warms up.

The numbers say there have been less deadly shootings so far this year than at this point in 2024. However, people living near Tuesday night’s shooting are still concerned and said they do not feel safe. Carol Leavenworth has lived in the same apartment on SE 136^th in Portland for 30 years. She said she has seen several shootings in that time and has bullet holes in the side of her apartment to show for it. While she said Tuesday night’s shooting did not surprise her, the troublesome trend is starting to bother her.

“It’s just getting too close to home for me,” she said. “And I have, you know, grandkids that I– that I have right now, that I watch and stuff, and it’s just not safe.”

She wants to see more police presence. But Allen said PPB is doing what they can.

“We have emergency calls to go to, we’ve had a staffing crisis for years and years where, you know, we don’t have enough officers to do all the things that we want to do,” he said. “So we have to prioritize. And so that means sometimes we’re not going to necessarily be able to, you know, increase patrols in every neighborhood.”

Leavenworth said even if police could patrol more like she wants, she has lost faith in the neighborhood.

“It’s not going to do any good anyways,” she said. “Like I said there’s– it’s just happening at like, starting at 8:00 at night I feel like, you know, I have to be in the house and lock my doors and everything, because just too much happens around here.”

Leavenworth said she is actively trying to move. As for the shootings, PPB said they are working hard to investigate, and the tragedy of these deaths is not lost on them.