Portland protest takes deadly turn

PORTLAND, Oregon－A shooting that left one person dead and five others injured in Portland happened during a confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters at a park where a march was planned to protest police violence, said authorities on Sunday.

Officers responding to a call on Saturday night at Normandale Park found one woman dead, and two men and three other women were taken to the hospital, said the Portland Police Bureau.

"The scene was extremely chaotic, and a number of witnesses were uncooperative with responding officers," said the police department in a statement. "Most people on scene left without talking to police.… This is a very complicated incident, and investigators are trying to put this puzzle together without having all the pieces."

A live news conference to discuss the violence in Portland earlier on Sunday was interrupted by protesters who began yelling anti-police sentiments.

Social media flyers showed that a march was planned for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old black man who was fatally shot by police in Minneapolis during a no-knock apartment raid, at the same time as the shooting, KOIN-TV reported.

The Portland Police Bureau said in a statement on Sunday that a preliminary investigation indicated the incident "started with a confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters", but detectives were still struggling to gather evidence.

Police responded to six shootings within a 9-hour span between Thursday night and early Friday. Shortly before Saturday night's shooting at Normandale Park, police who were called to a separate disturbance shot and killed one of the people involved.

Portland, Oregon state's largest city, saw months of nightly protests in 2020 that often spiraled into violence following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Portland became the center of the movement to defund the police, but sustained protests in the city have largely faded away.

The city is now dealing with a plague of gun violence.

Last year was marked by record-high gun violence in Portland. Police and city officials said the increase in violence, which disproportionally affected Portland's black community, was fueled by gang-related arguments, drug deals gone wrong and disputes among homeless people. The situation was exacerbated by the pandemic, economic hardships and mental health crises.

Homicides in Portland last year surpassed more populous cities such as San Francisco and Boston, and were more than double the number of killings in its larger Pacific Northwest neighbor Seattle.

Portland recorded 90 homicides last year, shattering the city's previous high of 66, set more than three decades ago.

Agencies via Xinhua