Mayoral
Hopefuls Debate
Communities
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Portland Observer
Online
See Local News, page 3
‘City of Roses’
Volume XLV
Number 15
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • April 13, 2016
Young, Gifted
and Black
Honoring 28
students from
the community
See Metro, page 9
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by M ark W ashington /t he p ortland o bserver
Mayor Charlie Hales and others gather at Peninsula Park in north Portland to address a spate of gunfire in local communities. The news conference featured Mr.
and Mrs. Bradford, an elderly couple who live in fear after their home of 40 years was shot up earlier this month in suspected gang-related violence. Also pictured is
Antoinette Edwards, director of the Mayor’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention.
After caught in
crossfire, elderly
couple pleads
for peace
C ervante p ope
t he p ortland o bserver
A string of shootings has
pushed an elderly black couple to
plead for an end to gun violence
while local law enforcement has
pledged to step up efforts to com-
bat local gangs.
Over four dozen rounds of bul-
lets blasted through three homes
just off North Albina Avenue and
by
‘We Live in Fear’
Ainsworth Street across from Pen-
insula Park during the early hours
of Sunday, April 3. Luckily no one
was injured, but the many nearby
residents were left shaken, includ-
ing Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, a cou-
ple in their 80s.
The Bradford’s home was
among those caught in the cross-
hairs of the suspected gang activ-
ity.
In efforts to publically address
and openly discuss the gunfire
and a spate of shootings across the
city, Mayor Charlie Hales stood in
Peninsula Park last Thursday with
the Bradfords, police, the U.S. At-
torney for Oregon, the Multnomah
County District Attorney and oth-
er community leaders.
Charlie Mae Bradford sat
sweetly next to her husband as
she described some of the dam-
age done to her home of 40 years,
before leading into her heartfelt
request:
“We live in fear now. We want
to feel safe in our home again. We
want everyone to feel safe again.
Please stop the shooting, we need
to get to caring for each other.
Please put down the guns,” Brad-
ford pleaded.
A few members of Enough is
Enough, an organization of wom-
en who have lost loved ones to
gang violence, shared the personal
accounts of lives lost to gunfire.
Of those present, Perlia Bell,
Shannon Taloff and Kiar Chaney
chose to speak. Bell’s daughter,
Asia, was killed in a shooting
back in 2002, while Taloff’s son
Anthony Jackson was killed last
summer, and Chaney’s brother
Marquis being gunned down in
March of last year.
Assistant Police Chief Kevin
Modica, State Rep. Lew Frederick
and U.S. Attorney Billy Williams
spoke on the collaborative efforts
of law enforcement agencies to
abate gang violence. Adult parole
and probation gang unit super-
visor Bryan Smith talked about
working with other agencies and
rehabilitation programs targeted
to former perpetrators.
“We all live here,” said Pas-
C ontinued on p age 4