What had happened? All we knew was that four people were dead and it had happened about 10:00 or so. And a lot of cops had shown up. That was it. Everything from 42nd Ave to down below our house was enveloped in it was big and untalked about. We were approaching 12 hours after the event and there was not any information being released.
We had planned to visit my mother-in-law in Salem. We would need to leave by 9:00 for that. I walked down to the police car blocking Cesar Chavez. I walked down the middle of the street. A small pleasure.
Can we leave the area in our car?
Yes, we will let you in and out.
We decided to go ahead. There was nothing to do that would do any of us any good. I did call my Mon.
Hi Mom
Well hello, how are you today?
I’m calling to tell you something before you hear it on the news.
OK
Four people were shot on our street.
We put up an alert on Facebook. It would not be good for people to read about four people being shot on our street and not a thing revealed. My wife thought it was the occupants of the “chop shop”. A shabby little house that always had four new cars parked tightly. There was a pregnant woman and a six-year-old boy living there. That would be gruesome.
It used to have a saying “If you want to know it, read The Washington Post”. They had broken the story about Senator Bob Packwood and his affinity for underaged women. This time around The Oregonian had the story. Three men from Texas arrived in order to buy marijuana, tubs of the stuff. The deal went bad. Two of them and two men who lived in the house were killed and one fled in a van.
That is what we know now.
— MichaelRpdx
PS: My erasure, eraser had run out. Sorry about that.