Portland, Oregon: Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Shotgun Fire at Passing Driver in Piedmont

A Portland man is facing an attempted murder charge after police say he fired a shotgun at a passing driver in the Piedmont neighborhood on Saturday morning. No one was injured, and officers took the suspect into custody within minutes.

Portland Police officers assigned to North Precinct responded at 11:03 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, to a report of someone seen with a gun in the 6700 block of North Commercial Avenue, the Portland Police Bureau said in a news release. As officers were responding, dispatchers told them callers were reporting that the suspect was firing shots.

Arrested within seven minutes

Officers moved in and challenged the suspect, who complied with orders to drop the shotgun and was taken into custody within 7 minutes of the first police unit being dispatched, the bureau said. A shotgun was recovered and seized as evidence.

The Enhanced Community Safety Team responded to investigate. Detectives determined that the suspect fired at least two shots with a shotgun at a passing driver, police said. No one was injured.

A bias crime charge is part of the case

Based on statements from the suspect, investigators found evidence that the crime was influenced by the suspect's perception of the victim's race, the bureau said. Under Oregon law, bias crimes are criminal acts that target a victim based on the suspect's perception of the victim's race, color, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or national origin.

Marc W. Schaffer, 52, of Portland, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, bias crime in the first degree, and criminal mischief in the second degree, police said.

The Police Bureau said its Focused Intervention Team and Enhanced Community Safety Team consider all gunfire aimed at Portland community members to be attempted murder cases, and that eyewitness accounts and video evidence are central to solving them.

Anyone with information about the case who has not already spoken with police can email [email protected], attention ECST, and reference case number 26-316621.

The bureau said it investigates all reports of bias motivated crimes and encourages any community member who is the victim of such a crime to contact law enforcement. A person who has been the victim of a bias crime assault, or who is witnessing one, should call 911 immediately, police said.