Salem neighborhood group gets some answers about deadly shooting at Bush's Pasture Park
Hours before a shooting in Bush’s Pasture Park on March 7 that killed one teen and injured two others, police were hearing chatter about something going down.
“We were aware that something was going to happen,” said Debra Aguilar, the Salem Police Department’s new deputy chief over the investigations division. “We believed it was going to happen downtown.”
As a result, SPD moved officers and resources into the downtown area.
“We did have resources in place. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen downtown,” Aguilar said.
Chris Baldridge, director of safety and risk management for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, said he notified downtown core schools to watch for groups of kids flowing out. But he didn’t tell South Salem High School, which is three blocks from the park.
“That’s a learning lesson for me, and one I’ll do the next time in the future is all six of my high schools will get that information,” Baldridge said.
Still Aguilar said, officers were close enough to respond within minutes, and had equipment such as chest seals and tourniquets that saved the lives of two of those shot.
Aguilar and Baldridge were among city, school and neighborhood officials who spoke to a standing-room only crowd at Wednesday night’s regular meeting of the South Central Association of Neighbors, or SCAN.
The past week has been traumatic for the neighborhood and community. The shooting triggered a six-hour park closure, lockdowns of nearby schools and Salem Hospital, and a massive manhunt.
A 16-year-old South Salem student was arraigned Monday on second-degree murder and attempted murder charges in the shooting. Prosecutors say they intend to file a waiver to charge Nathaniel Shauntae McCrae Jr. as an adult.
The day after the shootings, the school district was overwhelmed with online threats at multiple schools, as well as a bomb threat at South Salem High School.
“That’s all we did all day,” Salem-Keizer Public Schools Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said. “Terrible hoax attacks.”
Threats continue to circulate this week, at South Salem and other district schools.
On Tuesday morning, police conducted a SWAT raid on a house on Rural Avenue SE, across from the school, and arrested 43-year-old Wilson Voorhis on 27 charges, many of them felonies. The charges included trying to sell methamphetamine near the high school, selling stolen tools, and parole violations.
Aguilar said police conducted the operation in the early hours so students and staff wouldn’t be traumatized by police lights and sirens.
But neighbors said they were rattled by three loud flash bangs officers used.
Many of those attending Wednesday’s meeting have lived in the historic neighborhood for decades or even generations.
Neighbors said that in just the past two years, they have seen a dramatic increase in problems with graffiti, property destruction, littering, large groups of teens hanging out during school hours and fights.
They demanded to know why the city and school district can’t do more to address the problems. They also asked what they could do.
Here are some of the neighbors’ questions to officials, and the answers provided Wednesday night:
Was the shooting gang related, and is the uptick in graffiti at Bush's Pasture Park related to that?
“Right now, we can’t say this was a gang involved shooting,” Aguilar said. “What we can say is graffiti is a symptom of the violence that we have. Sometimes when you see graffiti you will see some other stuff happening. But I can’t stand up here and say this was a gang shooting.”
Should the neighborhood be concerned about gang retaliation?
“I wish I knew. I wish I knew,” Aguilar said. “I can’t say if there is or isn’t going to be retaliation but what I can tell you is we are actively partnering with the school district, partnering with our federal partners to make sure we track down all of those potential threats.
“My hope is there is not. I can’t see the future,” she said.
Was the gun used in the shooting taken into or found in South Salem High School?
Aguilar said that information can’t be disclosed right now, because it’s part of the ongoing investigation.
Why can’t we have a police gang team or school resource officers back in schools?
“Even though we don’t have SROs, it doesn’t mean we don’t have a strong partnership with Salem-Keizer Public Schools," Aguilar said. “We are in constant contact with the schools, sharing information. We attend joint meetings together where we talk about different concerns. I’m constantly texting Chris Baldridge.”
As far as the gang team, she said: “Yes, we don’t have two officers that we call a gang team. But just because we don’t have a gang team doesn’t mean we don’t have officers working to solve a lot of these violent crimes.”
For example, she said, five officers partner with federal law enforcement, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Attorneys Office.
“They are all working together to prevent these shooting,” she said.
And the police department’s Strategic Investigations Unit focuses on who is involved in the shootings, she said.
“Who do we think is going to be the next one out there engaged in this violence? That’s what their focus is on. Areas and people that are highly likely to be the next, either shooters or victims.”
Why can’t the district close South Salem High School’s campus?
Castañeda said that’s off the table.
“We don’t lock our students in. We work with them to establish expectations,” she said. “We cannot close our doors.”
In the wake of last week’s events, however, South Salem has temporarily told students to stay out of the park during lunch breaks.
And the district is reviewing what happened and considering adjustments to its policies, said Iton Udosenata, deputy superintendent for secondary schools.
That could look like policies at North Salem and McNary high schools, where 9th graders aren’t allowed to leave campus.
“That’s something we will review,” Udosenata said.
Why are Salem-Keizer students roaming the city instead of attending classes?
“Why are kids not in school? That is the whole nation’s question right now,” Castañeda said. “I am not deflecting responsibility but I am broadening the aperture of what we’re talking about when I say across the whole country this is the question everybody is asking.”
Why doesn’t the school send someone to the park and neighborhood to get kids back in class?
“Can they be picked up? I will be honest with you, by who? Our teachers are teaching. Our leaders are leading. Our counselors are leading,” Castañeda said. “We don’t run a shuttle service that goes around the city to pick students up.”
“We do our best, but we are not staffed to be patrolling the neighborhood,” she said.
What can neighbors do to help?
SCAN president Victor Dodier encouraged the crowd to get involved with the association and to join a newly forming graffiti abatement team. And, neighbors said, making sure to walk in the neighborhood and use the park can sometimes be enough to encourage bad actors to leave.
Tracy Loew covers education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem group gets answers about Bush's Pasture Park shooting
