Portland Murder-Suicide Caps Violent Night Of Shootings And Crashes

PORTLAND, OR —A murder-suicide. A stolen ambulance leading state police chase. Two people shot outside of a convenience store. And more. Portland police said that there was so much violence Friday night into Saturday morning that it left their resources strained.

"As a result of the extremely heavy call load and series of significant events, all three precincts were placed on high priority only for various times most of the night," the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement.

"High priority only" meant that they were only responding to calls that involved potentially life-threatening injuries, according to police.

In its statement, the bureau said that they are "aware that many lower priority calls have not gotten response, and we are grateful for the patience from the community as we work through the calls."

Just after 2 a.m., officers were sent to a home on the 14100 block of SE Woodward Street where they found two adults, both dead, police said. They added that it's being investigated as a murder-suicide. No names or ages have been released.

As Friday turned to Saturday, there were more shootings.

Around 12:30 a.m. calls to 911 reported that there had been a shooting on the 7200 block of SE Woodstock Boulevard. Officers arrived and found two victims, neither of whom had serious injuries though one needed a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, according to police.

The two men, neither of whom have been identified, were taken by ambulances to nearby hospitals, police said.

Around 45 minutes later, on the 00 block of SE 127th Avenue, police said that officers found a man who had been shot. They said that his injuries were not considered life threatening and than ambulance took him to a local hospital.

About one hour later, at 2:18 a.m. 911 received calls stating that there had been a shooting on the 3200 block of SE Hawthorne Boulevard, police said, adding that they are still trying to figure out how many victims there actually were.

Arriving officers found one man at the scene who had been shot, according to police. He was rushed to a hospital by ambulance.

Around the same time, another gunshot victim arrived at a hospital. This man had been driven in a private vehicle.

Soon after, another private vehicle brought a person to a hospital, police said. They added that this man appeared to have been hit by shrapnel.

Police said that none of the three suffered life-threatening injuries and while they are still investigating, they believe that the second two men were injured in the same bar shooting as the first.

There were also a series of fatal and near-fatal crashes that started just after 5 p.m. Friday.

In that incident, the driver of a stolen van crashed into two pedestrians by SE 26th Avenue and SE Ash Street, according to police. Both people were hospitalized, one. with life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The van's driver and at least one other person left the scene and are still being sought, according to police.

Just before midnight, police said that officers were sent to SE 82nd Avenue and SE Henderson Street where they found a man who had been seriously injured by a car whose driver did not stop. The man was hospitalized with life threatening injuries, they said adding that the driver is still being sought.

Meanwhile, just after 6 a.m. on Saturday, officers arrived at the scene of a crash on NW St. Helens Road, just south of the St. Johns Bridge. They found a car that had crashed into a pole with live power lines. The driver, a man, was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman who was the passenger was rushed to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Police ask anyone with information on any of these incidents to email them at crimetips@portlandoregon.gov.