'Not a safe place': Dawson Park neighbors want answers from city as shootings persist

Neighbors near Dawson Park are demanding answers from Portland city leaders after a barrage of bullets rained down Friday, injuring two people.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Neighbors near Dawson Park are demanding answers from Portland city leaders after a barrage of bullets rained down Friday, injuring two people.

The gunfire, which happened outside a preschool, left 80 casings on the ground and parents ducking for cover during school pickup. However, the call for action to reduce gun violence in the area is sadly not new.

In response to a KOIN 6 News inquiry, Mayor Ted Wheeler's office gave a statement on Tuesday saying in part the city would be working to reduce gun violence by way of ongoing efforts like Portland Ceasefire, Portland Police Bureau's Office of Violence Prevention and incoming grants.

"The City has been working tirelessly with community to address gun violence across the City, including in Dawson Park. There are several efforts underway, many of which began in the last two years," Tuesday's statement from Wheeler said in part.

But KOIN 6 wanted to know what Wheeler is doing to immediately address the shootings outside of measures that were already in the works. The concern comes from a history of statements from the mayor's office over the years vowing to increase resources to reduce violence in the area, and yet, shootings persist.

"The Portland Police Bureau has increased both visibility and patrols in Dawson Park in the surrounding areas," Wheeler said on Monday.

The statement somewhat mirrors remarks Wheeler gave years ago on the same topic: gun violence at Dawson Park.

"We are increasing resources available to both intervene and prevent this level of gun violence," Wheeler said on March 9, 2021.

Despite these statements about three years apart signaling gun violence intervention, the problem continues. Now parents are demanding the city does something about reducing the number of bullets flying by the preschool in the long-term.

"It's a beautiful park but when they're unsafe people there, doing like unsafe activities, and it's just condoned it seems, then it's not a safe place to be," said Lynne Randall, a parent of Arc-en-Ciel Montessori, a French immersion preschool across the street from the park.

Shootings at the park have persisted for years. In the last five years, there were 16 reported shootings at the park, with three of those claiming the lives of African American men, according to the Portland Police Bureau.

"It's changed quite a bit. I don't know. A lot of people got spread out. There's no togetherness, like it used to be," said community member Bobby Cason.

Wheeler's office said he's continuing to meet with faith leaders and community organizations through bi-weekly meetings to come up with solutions. They said park rangers were implemented in 2022 following another shooting at Dawson Park and that they still do "regular daily visits to Dawson Park."

Below is the statement from Mayor Wheeler that his office shared with KOIN 6 on Tuesday:

"The City has been working tirelessly with community to address gun violence across the City, including in Dawson Park. There are several efforts underway, many of which began in the last two years. The Portland Police Bureau has increased patrols and visibility in the area. I’m optimistic that the arrests made by PPB, resulting in the seizure of multiple firearms, is but the first of many police interventions to improve the situation. The Office of Violence Prevention and Portland Ceasefire have been canvassing the Dawson Park vicinity and expanding street level outreach to intervene in cycles of retaliation and prevent further violence. My team is in continuous direct communication with members of the Dawson Park community, both through meetings with individuals, faith leaders, the neighborhood association, organizations like Friends of the Children, and through biweekly Problem Solver meetings and efforts led by the Portland Solutions team to improve safety in the area.”