A sprawling homeless encampment in Wallace Marine Park was the site of Salem’s latest fatal shooting early Thursday morning which left one man dead, another hospitalized and no one arrested over a day later.
The Salem Police Department has provided no details about what led up to the gunfire, only saying it came after an argument over property.
The deadly shooting in the park’s north end shattered the community of homeless people who stay in an unmanaged camp at the park, already battling the traumas of living outside with few other places they can go.
City outreach workers regularly meet at the park with a diverse group of people living in around 160 tents or makeshift structures. Each person arrives at Wallace with different needs, according to Gretchen Bennett, Salem’s homelessness liaison.
“I think about one young woman I met, barely 20 years old, who had aged out of foster care and another father and son that I talked with who had lived for a long time out of doors,” she said.
Camping in Wallace Marine Park is not legal, but the park has been home to a large homeless community for years. Outreach groups, including Northwest Human Services’ medical outreach van and the city’s homeless outreach team, regularly visit the camps to talk to residents.
The west Salem park was closed for several hours while police investigated the shooting but was later reopened on Thursday. No one camping there was asked to leave, according to Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick.
Police identified the deceased victim as 29-year-old Charley A. Hodges.
Another man, 25, remained hospitalized as of Thursday afternoon with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Police said they would not release the surviving victim’s name until his family is notified of the shooting.
Salem police haven’t revealed whether they’ve identified a suspect or if they believe the shooter was staying at the encampment.
One camp resident told Salem Reporter she watched as police searched the area using dogs on land, drones in the air and boats in the water.
Wallace was one of two Salem parks where the city allowed people to camp during the Covid pandemic. The intent was in part to limit the spread of Covid that could come from people regularly having to move where they were staying.
In the spring of 2022, the city swept the camp, forcing residents to disperse. Salem officials at the time did not offer any other camping location.
That sweep marked the end of city-sanctioned camping.
“It is not illegal to be homeless and it is not permitted in our city code to camp in parks,” Bennett said.
But Bennett said the city’s strategy has changed from widespread sweeps.
“We move slowly, small area by small area, and have been there weekly,” Bennett said.
The Salem Outreach and Livability Services team, intended to connect homeless people with services and keep city parks safe, regularly visits, meeting with campers to help them find better shelter or housing options and address any barriers they have.
“We talk with people and work toward a better next step. We explain that the location they are at is not workable and set a time by which transition needs to happen,” Bennett said. “Sometimes we succeed and people move back with family, or to a shelter, for example. Other times we don’t succeed and we believe the person moves to another location that may also not be permitted in our code.”
When the person leaves the camp, the city team removes any trash left behind to keep the park clean, she said.
“I am grateful for the recent acceleration of temporary emergency shelter, supportive housing and affordable housing, as we have been absolutely dependent upon those resources and would make productive use of more, particularly for special populations such as people with medical support needs,” she said.
A city report in November analyzing shootings in Salem showed more unsheltered people were victims of gun violence in the last three years than in previous years.
They made up less than 3% of victims from 2018 to 2020, but that number jumped to nearly 20% of victims between 2021 and 2023. Meanwhile, there was no significant increase in the share of homeless people who were suspects in gun crimes.
A GoFundMe is available to raise money for Hodges’ funeral expenses and to help loved ones travel to the ceremony.
The Wallace Marine Park shooting comes one month after three teenagers were gunned down at Bush’s Pasture Park in south Salem. One victim, a 16-year-old boy, was killed. Another boy, 16, was arrested for the shooting.
RELATED COVERAGE:
No arrests after Wallace Marine Park confrontation ends in fatal shooting
UPDATE: 1 man dead, another wounded in early morning shooting at Wallace Marine Park
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
