Portland’s Jefferson High School no stranger to gun violence

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 19, 2022

The sidewalks in front of Jefferson High School were quiet Wednesday afternoon. No lunchtime bustle. No laughter echoing around the common areas. Instead, a plastic sandwich board at the school’s entrance announced classes were canceled for the day.

The evening prior, police were scouting the school grounds for bullet casings and strike marks left on the exterior walls of the school gym, after a suspect in a stolen white Hyundai drove past the school just before 4 p.m., firing gunshots that injured one student in the leg, grazed another in the hand and sent several others running for cover inside.

Police found the stolen Hyundai crashed nearby on Northeast Alberta Street between Vancouver Avenue and Northeast Williams Avenue, Portland Police Bureau reported Wednesday, Oct. 19. PPB said the suspect and any other occupants had already fled the scene when the car was found just after 4 p.m.

“Detectives have seized the vehicle and collected valuable evidence from inside, and the Forensic Evidence Division is processing the vehicle for additional trace evidence,” PPB reported. “No suspect(s) are in custody at this point and the investigation is ongoing.”

‘As soon as I heard shots, I ran inside’

The shooting happened after school let out for the day, but several students were still on campus.

“I was outside getting my running shoes,” Chance Coleman, a sophomore at Jefferson High, recalled of hearing gunfire as he headed back toward the weight room where his teammates were. “I was walking across the street. I was right there.”

Coleman, who plays for the Jefferson Democrats football team, said he was among a group of students who heard shots ring out and ran inside the building toward the auditorium.

Two other students, also sophomores who play on the football team, said they counted three or four gunshots, but “it coulda been more.” They lost track as they fled for cover.

“As soon as I heard (shots) I ran inside,” the students said, almost in unison. The trio chatted as they walked past a rickety, dilapidated chain link fence enclosing a former tennis court on the school’s campus. Paint at the school’s entrance is visibly worn and aging.

Jefferson High is among the schools slated to be remodeled with Portland school bond money, but construction isn’t expected to start until summer 2024.

While that was Coleman’s first encounter with gun violence at his school, he said as a student in North Portland, he’s come to expect it.

“It’s what comes with going to places like this,” Coleman said, citing “the neighborhood, the history of Jefferson and the violence.”

“If you go here, you should know it’s gonna come with it” the sophomore said. He conceded, “this is probably the best Jeff’s ever been, so it’s not really crazy over here like it used to be.”

The student who was shot in the leg was hospitalized, but is said to be recovering. Police and school district officials had yet to confirm the extent of the injuries to the second student, a girl who was likely standing nearby.

“Our schools should be safe spaces for students! Today’s incident is a stark reminder of the gun violence that has impacted our communities for the past few years,” Jefferson High School Principal Drake Shelton said in a message to students and families Tuesday evening. “As we restart, rejuvenate and refocus, we want to make sure that this incident doesn’t stop the great ‘heart-work’ that our staff and students exhibit everyday.”

The principal’s message included links to mental health and trauma resources, as well as violence prevention sites.

School was canceled the day after the shooting, but district officials said the campus would open to provide counseling resources for students and staff, and serve meals to students from noon to 1 p.m. Jefferson High is set to reopen Thursday with special assemblies and listening sessions for staff and students, a district spokesman said. There will also be heightened security.

PPS confirmed two to three additional community safety personnel will be on campus Thursday and Friday.

“We have requested PPB do enhanced patrols around Jefferson with a focus during arrival and dismissal,” Will Howell, a district spokesman, said Wednesday.

During Wednesday’s lunch hour, staff trickled in and out of the building, wary of visitors and media.

Jefferson students have been shot before

Neighbors who’ve lived nearby for decades said this is the first time they can recall gunshots at the school, but the latest gun violence incident comes as Portland has seen a wave of shootings and violence. The city’s number of homicides has more than tripled since 2018.

Preliminary crime data provided by PPB indicates police investigated 26 homicides in 2018, nearly 600 weapons law violations and 8,724 assaults. There were 36 homicides in 2019. In 2021, those numbers grew to 88 homicides, 846 weapons violations and 9,541 assaults. This year so far, police have reported more than 75 homicides. From January to August, the latest data available, PPB reported 606 weapons violations and 6,308 assaults, but cautioned that data is likely incomplete due to delayed processing.

But Portland’s gun violence isn’t new, and has hit Jefferson High before. More than a decade ago, in 2011, , including two Jefferson students, a few blocks from the high school, at Portland Community College’s Cascade campus, in what appeared to be an unprovoked Friday night attack. In 2007, after shooting two Jefferson students leaving a homecoming dance.

“As educators, we strive to foster joyful, safe learning environments where our students will be inspired. A violent intrusion like this disrupts that important work in the building where it happened, but also across all our district communities,” PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “We are here for our community with a variety of resources and supports for anyone experiencing ??anxiety, trauma, and distress.”

Guerrero said the district has the tools to tackle safety threats.

“I also understand our students and families have safety concerns, given very concerning current local circumstances and national events. I want to assure you that we have clear steps to assess threats and ensure safety. I’m proud of how quickly, thoroughly, and compassionately our central office and Jefferson leaders responded yesterday. I certainly hope we don’t have any future instances requiring us to mobilize again, but please know: we are ready to do what we must to keep our students safe. We will continue to proactively mobilize anytime an emergency circumstance requires our full attention; this includes working closely with the Portland Police Bureau and other partners to ensure student and school safety.”