Boy, 16, shot Saturday night near downtown Pringle Park Plaza

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the neck Saturday night in Salem’s downtown business district, according to the Salem Police Department.

The boy was hospitalized and survived his injuries. Police have not arrested a suspect.

Emergency dispatchers received a call around 9:20 p.m. Saturday reporting a victim with a gunshot wound in the 400 block of Southeast Mill Street, according to Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick.

The street is wedged within Pringle Park Plaza, which includes restaurants, a parking garage, a post office and a child care center.

Police arrived to find the boy lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his neck. 

Officers provided medical aid until paramedics arrived and transported the victim to the hospital. His injury was later determined to be non-life-threatening.

Salem detectives investigated the shooting overnight and determined that the victim and suspect “are known to one another,” Hedrick said.

Police did not say what provoked the shooting.

The shooting comes just one week after a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed on June 23 in a residential area on the outskirts of south Salem. An 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with murdering the boy.

A city report last fall found that shootings in Salem had doubled in recent years. 

Teenagers were involved in about 10% of Salem shootings between 2018 and 2021 as victims and assailants. That number has since jumped to over 25%, according to the report.

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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