The murderous shooting in Bush’s Pasture Park earlier this month remains under investigation.
As police sort out what happened, the community is demanding answers and action.
Here are key elements of where matters stand:
The victims…
•A fundraising effort has generated $15,000 for the family of Jose Manuel Vasquez Valenzuela. He died in the park. He was a sophomore at South Salem High School. Among the more than 300 donors to the GoFundMe was Andrea Castañeda, superintendent of the Salem-Keizer School District.
•The condition of two teenagers wounded in the park on March 7 is unknown as officials at the Salem Police Department and the Marion County District Attorney’s Office won’t comment. As of early last week, Roberto Muñoz-Soto, 16, remained hospitalized in Portland and Damien Esquivel-Soto, 15, remained hospitalized in Salem. Both were in stable condition.
The investigation…
•Nathaniel S. McCrae Jr., 16, has been formally charged with second-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of carrying or using a dangerous weapon. Juvenile authorities say the teen has no previous charges. Marion County prosecutors are seeking to try McCrae as an adult.
•Investigators haven’t established whether the park confrontation had any connection to Salem street gangs. Authorities last year reported that gang activity in Salem was on the rise, with about half the city’s shootings linked to members of gangs or more informal groups.
The school….
•School officials continue to deal with the impact of the shooting on students and staff at South Salem High School, which went into lockdown as a result of the shooting. District officials now are considering installing weapons detection equipment at high schools.
Here is a roundup of Salem Reporter’s coverage related to this shooting.
Englewood, Hoover and now Bush’s Pasture Park have been the sites of deadly shootings in recent years. The most recent which left one teen dead and two others wounded has…
When Tara Romine got into education, weapons detectors weren’t part of school administrators’ lives. After spending half her career at South Salem High School, the principal said she’s grieving and…
After a shooting involving teens and an unrelated raid on a neighborhood home, Wednesday’s meeting of the South Central Association of Neighbors saw over 100 in attendance. Those gathered sought…
South Salem students reacted instinctively last week to barricade classrooms and take care of younger classmates after a shooting left a teen dead just blocks from the school.
Police and school district security workers said at a Monday forum for parents that they had little information yet about what motivated the shooting involving multiple South Salem students last…
Nathaniel S. McCrae Jr., 16, faces charges including murder and attempted murder for his role in a shooting that killed one boy and injured two others on Thursday at Bush’s…
Pastors leading a vigil following the shooting of three teen boys in Bush’s Pasture Park said they want to be part of the solution to gun violence and show Salem’s…
Jose Vazquez-Valenzuela, 16, was pronounced dead after police responded to a shooting at Bush’s Pasture Park Thursday. Damien Esquivel-Soto, 15, and a 16-year-old boy who police have not identified also…
Neighbors were walking their dogs at Bush’s Pasture Park Thursday afternoon when they heard gunfire and screams. Witnesses who rushed to help said a young man died as they were…
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Les Zaitz is editor and CEO of Salem Reporter. He co-founded the news organization in 2018. He has been a journalist in Oregon for nearly 50 years in both daily and community newspapers and digital news services. He is nationally recognized for his commitment to local journalism. He also is editor and publisher of the Malheur Enterprise in Vale, Oregon.
