Two teens accused of SE Salem cat killing
Police have accused two teens in the shooting death of a neighborhood cat in southeast Salem earlier this month but haven’t identified the teen who pulled the trigger, the Salem Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.
The teens were referred to the Marion County Juvenile Department on allegations of first-degree animal abuse. One of the teens was also accused of evidence tampering, police said. Juvenile records are generally confidential.
They were not lodged in juvenile detention but are scheduled to appear at a later date in Marion County Juvenile Court, according to Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick.
On May 10, police responded to a southeast Salem neighborhood after they received reports of a cat being shot to death on the sidewalk outside of a home. The residents caught the act on video. The late-night recording showed five teens gathered around the cat, named Vortex, before one of them shot and killed the cat with what appeared to be a rifle.
The person shown shooting the cat remains unidentified, and police have not recovered the weapon, according to the agency’s statement.
Salem police said detectives initially received tips from the community and are again asking for public assistance on the matter.
The agency asked anyone with information about the case to call its tip line at 503-588-8477.
Under Oregon law, maliciously killing an animal is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $125,000. An adjudication in juvenile court can result in the same commitment period, the youth equivalent of a sentence.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
