A gang task force arrested a man early Saturday in connection with a shooting near a high school in Portland, Oregon, police said.
A gunman had opened fire Friday on four people near Rosemary Anderson High School, then fled on foot with two other men, according to witnesses.
Officers from the Portland Police Gang Enforcement Team stopped a vehicle overnight and arrested a 22-year-old man, police said in a statement. They also recovered a handgun from the vehicle.
Police have not yet released the arrested man’s name.
The wounded
When medical technicians arrived at Rosemary Anderson High School, all of the wounded were conscious and talking, police said in a statement. Three of the victims were taken to a local hospital.
One victim, Taylor Zimmers, 16, is in critical condition. Two more, David Jackson-Liday, 20, and Labraye Franklin, 17, are in fair condition.
A 17-year-old girl suffered a grazing wound in the shooting and was treated on the scene.
“All four gunshot victims are affiliated with the school,” police said.
The shooting
The shooting happened around 12:15 p.m. local time not far from the campus in north Portland, police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said.
After being shot, at least three victims ran inside a school building, a caller told authorities.
“I saw him stumble into the school holding his stomach, he said my brother’s name and then he fell on the ground,” one student told CNN affiliate KATU.
The suspect may be affiliated with a gang but it’s not known if the shooting was gang-related or “a personal beef,” Simpson said. An argument may have preceded the shooting.
The suspect was described as a male in his late teens or early 20s and he was accompanied by two other males in the same age range.
They left the area quickly on foot, Simpson said.
He said the police department’s gang task force was investigating. Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also arrived to assist, he said.
At-risk students
The school system website says Rosemary Anderson High enrolls about 200 at-risk students who “have either been expelled or dropped out of public high school and many are homeless.”
All the shooting victims were students at the school or had taken job training or been enrolled in other programs there, Simpson said. The victims were breathing, conscious and talking as they were transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Simpson said.
The campus was locked down for a while but classes later resumed, Simpson said.
Nearby Jefferson High School and Portland Community College were locked down as police sought the shooter, authorities said, but the lockdown was lifted after a few hours.
Pastor: ‘heartbreaking
A man who said he’s the pastor of one of the shooting victims told KOIN that the shooting was “heartbreaking.”
“The young man I know attends our church frequently who is, according to my understanding, not involved in any criminal activity, he is a bright young man,” said Jason Nelson of Cornerstone Community Church of God in Christ. “You hear about shootings every day and when it comes close to your school it’s heartbreaking.”
Another school shooting occurred about six months ago in the Portland area. One person was killed June 10 at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, about 12 miles east of Portland. One person was killed.