After moving to Salem in 1977, I recall the shock after the first instance of gang violence. I recall that it was a non-fatal shooting, but could be wrong about that. Can't remember the year, but my wife and I guess that it was in the early to mid 1980s.
Before that time we here in Salem looked upon our town as different from Portland, the big city to the north that did have gangs who fought it out with each other. But though we were known as sleepy Salem, the upside was a feeling that gang violence was something that beset other cities, not us.
Things have changed, as a Salem Reporter story says.
One person died and two young men were injured in a shooting Thursday afternoon at Bush’s Pasture Park, Salem police said in a news release.
Officers are still searching for one suspect.
Police responded to the south side of the park, near the intersection of southeast High and Leffelle streets, around 1:45 p.m. They found a male victim dead and two boys injured with gunshot wounds.
The boys were transported to Salem Hospital for medical treatment. Police did not have the age of the dead victim confirmed.
Police released no information about what prompted the shooting. The medical condition of the surviving victims was unknown.
On Friday a 16-year-old boy turned himself in.
Salem police have arrested a teen boy on accusations of of killing another boy and wounding two others in a shooting at Bush’s Pasture Park Thursday afternoon.
Nathaniel S. McCrae Jr., 16, turned himself in at the Salem Police Department station late Friday evening in the company of a parent. He was arrested without incident, police said in a news release Saturday morning.
...The charges allege McCrae shot and killed 16-year-old Jose Vasquez-Valenzuela, a sophomore at South Salem High School, at the south Salem park.
The teen is also accused of shooting Damien Esquivel-Soto, 15, and a 16-year-old boy who police have not identified. They were transported to Salem Hospital for treatment.
...In a Friday news release, police confirmed the accounts of several witnesses, saying two large groups of juveniles were at the park when gunfire erupted.
It's so sad that Jose Vasquez-Valenzuela is dead and Nathaniel S. McCrae Jr. is charged with his murder. When you're 16, almost your whole life is in front of you. Unless you're dead or likely headed off to be incarcerated for a long time.
Back in the ancient days of my high school years, the 1960's, teenage boys would fight with their fists, or at worst, pull out a knife. Now guns are everywhere, including in the hands of young people who shouldn't have them.
Last Thursday, the day of the shooting/killing, the Statesman Journal had a story about a community effort to reduce this kind of violence. It included some statistics from the Police Department about who is involved in shootings.
The report mapped out homicides and shootings in the city between 2018 and 2023, showing a cluster of three hot spots in northeast Salem that cover about 5 square miles. During the past six years, 65% of homicides and shootings occurred in those hot spots.
A survey of the demographics found that men, as well as Black and Latino residents, were overrepresented among both suspects and victims.
Hispanic people comprise 22.4% of the total city population but accounted for 45.7% of victims and 58.9% of suspects. About 1% of the city's population is Black, but 12.7% of victims and 5.4% of suspects were Black. White people accounted for 32.1% of suspects and 38.3% of victims.
It seems clear that while this is partly a policing problem, the root causes are societal. I can't believe that many young men decide that their goal in life is to become a tough guy who carries a gun and shoots people who offend them for some reason. That is forced upon them by tough circumstances.
Salem's leaders, including Mayor Chris Hoy, are doing the right thing by engaging the entire community in coming up with a plan this year to reduce gun violence that will be implemented in 2025. Getting "tough on crime" is too simplistic. The root causes of gun violence in Salem have to be identified and addressed.
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