Police arrest suspect in US school shooting

PORTLAND, Oregon — A suspect in a shooting that wounded three students outside an alternative high school was arrested early Saturday in what appears to be a gang-related attack, Portland police said.

Witnesses told authorities there may have been a dispute Friday outside Rosemary Anderson High School just before the shooting occurred at a street corner. The victims are students or in affiliated job training programs.

The assailant and two other people fled, and the injured trio went to the school for help, police said. A 16-year-old girl was critically wounded, and a 17-year-old boy and 20-year-old man were hospitalised in fair condition. Another girl was grazed by a bullet.

A student, Oliviann Danley, 16, told The Oregonian she saw a boy run into the school and yell, “Oh my God, did I just get shot?”

Hours later, authorities said they stopped the suspect’s vehicle around 1:30am and arrested a 22-year-old man. A handgun was found in the vehicle.

Police searched an apartment soon after that is about five blocks east of the shooting. Detectives said they would release the suspect’s name and charges after he is booked into jail.

Gang investigators “feel comfortable saying this is a gang-related shooting based on some of the people involved”, Sgt. Pete Simpson said. Police believe the shooter has gang ties.

Simpson said police were still gathering details on the reported dispute outside the 190-student school that serves at-risk students who were expelled or dropped out or are homeless or single parents.

Police identified the hospitalised victims as Taylor Michelle Zimmers, 16, who was in critical condition; David Jackson-Liday, 20; and Labraye Franklin, 17.

Sierra Smith, a 17-year-old student, told The Oregonian she saw one of the male victims getting help from a teacher inside the school.

“He was laying on the ground. He had blood coming out of his stomach,” she said. “It was scary.”

Gang violence in Portland isn’t a new phenomenon. Some of the violence occurs between rival gangs, but bystanders have also been hurt.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in addressing the gang problem, but we haven’t eradicated it,” Mayor Charlie Hales said Friday. “Today’s really a sad reminder that it’s still with us.”