PORTLAND, Ore. — After shots were fired outside Franklin High School on Saturday, the fourth shooting near a Portland high school this school year, leaders for Portland Public Schools and the Portland Police Bureau said they're discussing solutions to address the recent surge in gun violence near schools.
In a series of tweets Sunday afternoon, Police Chief Chuck Lovell said he spoke with District Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero about adding extra patrols in the neighborhood around Franklin High School. Guerrero, in a letter sent Sunday to families in the district, said he wants to see more patrols in all schools neighborhoods.
"I hope they can come up with a solution that obviously helps," one Franklin parent told KGW.
Guerrero said he wants the city, police bureau and district attorney's office to develop a "comprehensive neighborhood safety plan that protects our children, youth, families, and neighbors from this continued gun violence."
Guerrero said the police bureau is willing to be an active partner in those efforts.
Classes at Portland Public Schools, the state's biggest school district, went on as scheduled Monday. Counselors, social workers and psychologists will be present at all schools in the district, Guerrero said. Members of the district's student success and health crisis recovery team would be assigned to specific schools to provide "trauma-informed support" to any student who needs it. He also shared a link for resources for families outside of school.
Including Saturday's shooting near Franklin High, there have been at least four shootings near a Portland high school during the 2022-23 school year. Two students were hurt after a shooting in October near Jefferson High School in North Portland. Another teen was hurt in a separate drive-by shooting near that same school in November. And last month, a student was shot outside Cleveland High School in Southeast Portland.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation and the city's Community Safety Division recently installed new traffic barriers near Jefferson High after the school district asked for the barriers to address last year's drive-by shootings near the school. The city said the installations are temporary and they plan to study how they work. If they're no longer needed, they'll remove them. Guerrero said the barriers are "a step towards centering the safety of Jefferson students and community."
After the December shooting at Cleveland High, Lovell said the bureau and the school district were discussing the possibility of bringing back school resource officers. The district removed them from all schools in June of 2020.
"This discussion at PPS about SROs is missing the mark," ACLU of Oregon Executive Director Sandy Chung said.
Chung said she has read research that indicates school resource officers do very little to stop school shootings. She said SROs have a negative impact.
"SROs intensified the use of suspensions, expulsions, police referrals and arrests of students," Chung said. "These effects are consistently two times larger for Black students than white students."
Meanwhile, the head of the Portland Police Association likes the idea of school resource officers in schools as long as the program is implemented thoughtfully and there is support for it.
"Police work done in the schools isn't just police work," Sgt. Aaron Schmautz said. "It's social work. It is support. It is family support. It's all these different programs coming together in a multi-disciplinary way to divert kids from the criminal justice system."
Saturday shooting
Saturday night's shooting happened outside Franklin High School in Southeast Portland while a boys basketball game was being played inside the gym. Officers found evidence of gunshots in the parking lot on the east side of the school. Police said a juvenile might been been grazed by a bullet and suffered a minor injury but he refused medical aid and didn't go to the hospital.
Officers detained a 15-year-old who has booked into a juvenile detention center in Northeast Portland. The teen faces a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm and also has an unrelated arrest warrant. A semiautomatic weapon was found nearby, police said. Police have not released any information about what led up to the shooting.
The shooting happened during the first quarter of a boys basketball game between Cleveland High School and Roosevelt High School that was being played inside Franklin High's gym. It was the fourth and final game of the Portland Interscholastic League Showcase basketball tournament.
Video from the game's live stream and footage captured by KGW sports anchor Orlando Sanchez, who was at the game, show fans and players frantically running down from the bleachers and out of the gym. The game was postponed indefinitely.
People at the game told KGW that police were searching vehicles and not letting people leave the parking lot immediately after the gym was cleared.
Police said an officer was working an "overtime detail" at Franklin High and heard gunshots just after 7:30 p.m. The officer radioed for help immediately, prompting a fast police response. The first responding officers were on scene within three minutes, police said.
Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to email crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov.
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Tweets from PPB Chief Chuck Lovell:
Letter sent to Portland Public Schools families:
Dear PPS Community,
Last night, gunshots were fired outside of a district-wide basketball tournament held at Franklin High School. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and the suspect is now in custody, but if you have any information about the incident please call 503-823-3333 or utilize the SafeOregon tipline.
While this incident occurred over the weekend, and outside the school building, we are grateful that there was already an officer onsite who responded quickly and alongside our PPS security team.
We also recognize that this is still an unnerving event and scary for those who were present at the game. As we shared before the break, we have comprehensive systems to assess threats and take quick, decisive action to keep students safe in our buildings.
Please be on the lookout for further messages in the coming days, but for now, we want to share two immediate updates.
First, classes will take place tomorrow on our regular schedule. Our counselors, social workers, and psychologists will be on-hand at all schools tomorrow. Members of our Student Success and Health crisis recovery team will be assigned to support specific schools. These skilled professionals will provide trauma-informed support to any student who wants to connect with a trusted adult. We also have these community violence resources for families who want additional resources outside of the building.
Second, we will accelerate talks with the City and PPB to step up patrols in the immediate neighborhood around schools. As a district, we have continued implementing additional safety measures and enhanced security outside of all basketball games, including additional PPS campus safety associates, community outreach partners, and police.
As educators, we call on our city’s elected leaders, law enforcement, and the justice system to prioritize the development of a comprehensive neighborhood safety plan that protects our children, youth, families, and neighbors from this continued gun violence. As I said last week, we stand ready to partner in these related efforts and solutions.
Guadalupe Guerrero
Superintendent