#Portland woman shot in hail of 150 bullets during Black Lives Matter protest

A Portland, Ore. woman was shot and wounded in a hail of 150 bullets on Saturday night — and neighbors are blaming police reform as violent crimes rise in the city, according to reports.

Local police said several occupied apartments and vehicles were hit with gunfire along the 600 block of NE 87th Street, with one slug striking the woman in her arm.

“Responding officers applied a tourniquet and she was transported to the hospital by ambulance with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries,” Portland police said in a release. “No other injuries have been reported to police, however bullets struck at least 8 occupied apartments and 7 vehicles (unknown if occupied).”

The gunplay happened as Black Lives Matters protesters took to the streets for the 65th straight day, with demonstrations remaining relatively peaceful compared to past clashes between protesters and police and federal officers, The Oregonian reported.

Police did not tie the shooting to the demonstrations — with one resident telling Fox that it likely had more to do with strained police resources and defunding law enforcement.

“They had a gang violence task force that are no longer funded, which is unfortunate because as soon as that defunding happened all of this really peaked up,” resident Kemoh Sulimani told the station.

Another resident of the apartment complex called it “a war zone.”

“This is America and it’s a war zone with 150 shots in an apartment complex close to a Christian university,” Aragon Marks told Fox. “How can we explain that?”

Portland has seen an uptick in violent crime over the past three months, with 167 shootings reported over that time, compared to 96 in 2019. The numbers peaking in July with 67 violent crimes — up from 28 over the same month last year, KATU-TV reported.

Response times for cops also more than doubled, with police taking nearly 15 minutes to get to a crime scene in July compared to less than seven minutes last year, the outlet said.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell said called the numbers were “not acceptable,” and said he moved detectives from an “already diminished patrol” unit to help handle the influx of homicides — 15 shooting or stabbing deaths in July.

Lovell said he believes disbanding of the department’s Gang Enforcement Team team was partly responsible for the rise in violence.

The unit was dismantled following a city audit that found black people were disproportionately targeted by the squad. The audit said that, in 2018, 59 percent of the residents engaging with the unit were black, compared to 24 percent for white residents.

Recent protests in the wake of the May 25 police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has increased calls for defunding of police departments throughout the country, including Portland.

But Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who pushed for the disbanding of the gang unit, said she did not believe that the move was behind the recent increase in violence.

“I don’t think it’s a staffing issue, and no matter how often they say they’re overworked and underpaid, the reality is that Portland police have for a long time decided what they will investigate and what they won’t,” Hardesty said.