Shooting outside Portland school injures three

PORTLAND – A suspected gang member opened fire on a group outside an alternative high school Friday, sending three young people to the hospital, Portland police said.

The victims are students at Rosemary Anderson High School or in affiliated job training programs, police Sgt. Pete Simpson said. Sixteen-year-old Taylor Michelle Zimmers was in critical condition, and 20-year-old David Jackson-Liday and 17-year-old Labraye Franklin were in serious condition, police said. Olyvia Batson, 19, was grazed by a bullet but not hospitalized.

Witnesses told police there may have been a dispute outside the school before the shooting occurred at a street corner, but police said they didn’t know who was involved.

“We don’t know what led up to the shooting,” Simpson said. “There was some kind of dispute.”

The assailant and two other people fled, and the wounded students went to the school for help, he said.

Preliminary information suggests the shooter has gang ties, Simpson said.

“That may not have anything to do with the shooting,” Simpson added. “The students may not at all be related to gangs. We don’t want to leave that conclusion with anybody.”

Sierra Smith, a 17-year-old student, told the Oregonian she saw one of the male victims being helped by a teacher inside the school.

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

The school serves at-risk students who were expelled or dropped out, or who are homeless or single parents. According to the school’s website, 190 students annually are enrolled at the north Portland location.

Gang violence in Portland isn’t a new phenomenon.

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