Portland Mass Shooting Leads To $25,000 Reward Offer From FBI

PORTLAND, OR — Take a good look at the woman in the picture. Her name is Makayla Marie Harris. Early in the morning on July 17, 2021, she was out with friends when she was shot and killed. She had been on Southwest 3rd Avenue between Harvey Milk and Washington streets when there was a gang shooting, Portland police said.

Harris, 18, was among seven people shot and the only person slain. She was not targeted, but was hit by a bullet intended for someone else.

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“To the coward that took my baby from me, you will pay for what you did because I will not lay down, and I will never stop fighting for my baby girl,” her mother, Felicia Martinez, said. “She was beautiful, happy, and recently graduated from high school.

“I know someone out there knows who did this, please do the right thing and help hold the person or persons accountable for their actions. We deserve closure and Makayla who had her innocent life taken deserves justice.”

Martinez isn't the only one who believes that there are people who know what happened, who was responsible.

The FBI said there were multiple shooters who fired from a car that then sped away.

“Innocent people pay a heavy price when violent criminal gangs battle on our streets. Those clashes, facilitated by the constant buying, selling, trading, and stealing of weapons, have helped to drive the homicide rate in Portland to record highs,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Oregon Office, Kieran Ramsey said. “Despite this, law enforcement often finds that those who have information about these cases are reluctant to come forward.

“Whether it is distrust of law enforcement or fear of retaliation, the result is the same — the killings continue. We need help to stop this cycle of violence, and we ask anyone with information to find the will to come forward.

People who saw what happened, who had been there, ran away after the shooting and have refused to come forward, the FBI added.

To help motivate those people and anyone else with information about the shooters, the FBI is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. That's on top of a $2,500 reward offered by Crime Stoppers of Oregon.

Anyone with information should write Portland Police at crimetips@portlandoregon.gov or reach out to the FBI at 1 (800) CALL-FBI or at tips.fbi.gov.