“Outreach workers and police suggest these shootings connected to people experiencing homelessness are a relatively new phenomenon which coincide with Portland’s rising gun violence.

‘I would say there are more shootings probably in more homeless areas and communities,’ said Dr. Vernon Baker of Just Compassion, a Washington County based non-profit focused on services for those experiencing homelessness.

It’s difficult to measure the increase in gun violence among the homeless because nobody’s tracking the data. Unlike sex or race, housing status is not something detectives log when recording a crime victim’s data.”