Portland police plea for videos, photos, eyewitness accounts in deadly shooting late Saturday night

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    PORTLAND, OR (KPTV ) — Portland police are asking for help after a deadly shooting in downtown on Saturday night.

The shooting occurred as two political rallies were happening in downtown near Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street.

Investigators on Sunday morning said they are still trying to figure out if the shooting was connected to the rallies. They are asking anyone with video or information about what happened to contact them as soon as possible.

The shooting on Saturday occurred around 8:45 p.m., according to law enforcement. The protests happening in the area involved a car caravan of Trump supporters and a group of counter-protesters.

Police are aware of videos circulating online and hope additional information will help create a clear and accurate picture of what happened leading up to the shooting and after it.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown early Sunday afternoon released a statement regarding the shooting, saying in part that Trump has encouraged division and stoked violence in cities, including in Portland. The statement in full is below:

For the last several years, and escalating in recent months, President Trump has encouraged division and stoked violence. It happened in Charlottesville. It happened in Kenosha. And now, unfortunately, it is happening in Portland, Oregon.

But despite the President’s jeers and tweets, this is a matter of life and death. Whether it’s his completely incompetent response to the pandemic, where nearly 200,000 have died, or his outright encouragement of violence in our streets: it should be clear to everyone by now that no one is truly safe with Donald Trump as President.

Throughout this pandemic, whether it was demonstrations protesting my COVID-19 executive orders, or large crowds marching for the cause of Black Lives Matter to call for police reform, I have supported the rights of all Oregonians to peacefully protest.

For months this summer, we have seen powerful images of Oregonians uniting for the cause of racial justice, calling for justice for Black men and women who have been killed by police violence. We remember them, we say their names. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. And far too many other Black lives taken by racist violence.

For weeks, we have also seen small groups of demonstrators from all ends of the political spectrum who are intent on committing acts of vandalism and violence. Tragically, yesterday a life was lost in downtown Portland. We do not yet know the full circumstances of this person’s death. Regardless, a life has been lost, and our hearts go out to this person’s family. We will find those who were responsible, and they will be held accountable.

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell issued a statement on Saturday after the shooting asking people to give detectives time to do their job before drawing any conclusions about what happened.

It is still early in this investigation, and I ask everyone to give the detectives time to do their important work before drawing conclusions about what took place. If anyone can provide information about this case, I ask them to please reach out to our detectives. This violence is completely unacceptable and we are working diligently to find and apprehend the individual or individuals responsible.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is set to hold a press conference later on Sunday regarding the incident.

Joey Gibson, the founder of Patriot Prayer, a right-wing group whose supporters have frequently clashed with left-wing protesters in Portland, said early Sunday that the man shot and killed was a supporter of the group and a “good friend”, according to the Associated Press.

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