PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Gresham Chief of Police is speaking up after a weekend of extreme violence where five shootings took place in less than 72 hours.
Gresham police say they recovered nearly 200 bullet casings over the weekend and that at least two people are injured.
“I take this very seriously. This is my community. I don’t want my community to experience this violence,” said Gresham Police Chief Travis Gullberg. “In one instance there (were) 111 casings, that’s very unusual. That means multiple weapons. Multiple firing of rounds, multiple types of rounds. That’s dangerous.”
Owner and artist Bill Jersey at Equinox Tattoo in downtown Gresham recalls the shooting right outside his shop that took place over the weekend.
“We did hear all the shots. We counted roughly 30. We captured two people running into our doorway, huddled down, for their lives, scared,” he said. “And nobody has a name. Nobody knows who did this.”
As two people hid, a series of gunshots were striking the diner next door. The surveillance video shown below shows a man and woman attempting to shield themselves from the gunfire.
In response to the weekend shootings, Jersey and his wife want to take action and form a neighborhood watch with video surveillance.
“Just something so we can all keep each other in the loop and try to keep each other safe,” Jersey said.
Gullberg says people are shooting up houses and cars. As a result, restaurants and coffee shops ended up as collateral damage.
“We are focused, we are going to be there, we’re going to do the work that needs to be done to hold people accountable and we’re going to work collaboratively with all of our community partners to prevent violence,” he said.
The chief says they need all the help they can get from witnesses, something local business owners can back.
“If there is something we see, we can say something because people aren’t saying anything … And one day it’s going to be someone you know or love,” Jersey said.