The shooting at 174th and Stark, outside the 174th Market & Deli, happened around 11:30 p.m. while a group of people was attending a vigil for 22-year-old Alejandro Barajas. Photo courtesy The Oregonian

A suspect has yet to be arrested for the vigil shooting on 174th and Stark

"Gun violence has been on the rise across our region in recent months; one of the priorities of the City this year is to focus on our modern public safety strategies." -Gresham Deputy City manager Corey Falls

Posted May 2021

By Isabelle Donahue

Staff Editor

A suspect has yet to be arrested for opening fire on a group of people holding a vigil in Gresham late Monday, April 26 for a shooting victim, eleven people were shot and seven were in critical condition.

The shooting at 174th and Stark, outside the 174th Market & Deli, happened around 11:30 p.m. while a group of people was attending a vigil for 22-year-old Alejandro Barajas. Barajas had been shot to death at the same location on Sunday, April 25. Gresham Police made a statement saying that they were still investigating the death when they received the call about this multi-victim event. The seven people that were rushed to the local hospital, four adult men and three adult women, have all survived. The other four that were injured didn’t face extreme injuries.

A dark SUV, which the shots came from, was seen pulling away from the scene and heading West on Stark. The police haven’t released any suspect description to the public, but have made a public statement asking for anyone with information to come forward. Gresham Deputy City manager Corey Falls said in a statement that police are “pursuing any and all leads” about the shooting at the vigil. At the moment, no arrests have been made and the police haven’t made any statements on having leads.

“Gun violence has been on the rise across our region in recent months; one of the priorities of the City this year is to focus on our modern public safety strategies,” Falls said. “While the issues that lead to increased violence are complex, we are committed to continuing to work with our community to develop strategies to prevent violence.”

At roughly the same time as the mass shooting on Monday, Omar Cibiran Gongora was taken into custody without any incident and is being held in the Multnomah County Jail on murder charges in connection with Barajas's death. Authorities have said that Gongora wasn’t connected to the drive-by shooting on Monday night.

Including the drive-by at 11:30 p.m., there were roughly a hundred shell casing found at multiple different locations. There hasn’t been anything released about these three shootings being connected, but police haven’t determined that they are not connected. Just before 11 p.m., officers responded to reports of gunshots near Southeast 151st Avenue and Stark and found more than 30 shell casings in the street. A short time later, a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds checked himself into a nearby hospital. He suffered serious injuries but was expected to survive. Just before midnight, officers were called to a hospital on reports that a 13-year-old boy had come in with a gunshot wound. The injury was described as a “grazing wound” to the leg, and the boy was expected to recover, police said. His location when he was shot was unclear. At about 11:30 p.m. Monday, a shooting was reported at Southeast 126th Avenue and Stark. No one was reported injured, but 11 shell casings were found, police said.

The amount of shootings comes as gun violence has soared in the Portland area. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt acknowledged the increasing violence and the toll it has taken on communities.

“The gun violence that unfolded in Gresham on Monday shows the urgent need for more community-based programs that work to prevent gun violence and that respond to the emotional trauma left behind. The outcome of this shooting could have been much different,” Schmidt said in a statement. “Law enforcement is pulling resources together to investigate gun crimes and to prevent the next shooting from happening, but we need the community’s help.”

Multnomah County Commissioner Lori Stegmann has recognized that the county has to do a better job of responding to the increase in violence.

"Providing mental health services, wrap-around services where you have people with lived experience who understand the challenges that so many people are going through, having that voice and shoulder to rely on is just paramount," Stegmann said.

Schmidt encouraged anyone with information on any of the shootings to contact law enforcement at 503-823-3333 or fill out an online police report.

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