PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two people were shot to death inside a popular Salem bar in the early hours of Saturday.
The shots rang out inside the Capital Cantina (formerly Woody’s Cantina, 1486 Hawthorne Avenue), around 1:30 a.m., police said. The bar was busy at the time of the shooting and other patrons inside Woody’s began running for their lives.
“When officers arrived, people were leaving the bar, fleeing the bar,” Salem PD Lt. Treven Upkes told KOIN 6 News.
Police “stopped people in the parking lot as witnesses and then directly entered the bar to make sure is was cleared and safe,” Upkes said. “So they went through, made sure everybody was out of the bar, out of harms way. We located the 2 victims deeper inside the bar.”
The two victims were mortally wounded. They were later identified as 27-year-old Jose Pablo Arrevalo and 29-year-old Erlin Adonay Rivas-Lopez, both of Salem.
“One of them was pronounced deceased at the scene and another was transported with life-threatening injuries, but unfortunately succumbed to those injuries at the Salem hospital,” he said.
Although the cantina has had its share of calls to police, this type of situation is a first.
“It’s a popular night life place, so there’s been incidents there on and off,” Upkes said, “but nothing of this magnitude.”
He added there’s been an uptick in gun violence in 2021 and reminded people to be aware of your surroundings in public.
“If you see people who are starting to get agitated, maybe it’s time to leave. Get yourself out of those situations,” he said. “We are kind of experiencing quite a bit in the summer and any larger city is probably going to experience that this year.”
No suspect information has been released.
Call the Salem Police Tips hotline at 503-588-8477 if you have any information about the shooting.