Shots fired Wednesday morning on Gilman Street have Portland police looking for the perpetrators and two men who they believe were the targets.

The incident occurred on the same block where a man was shot to death in March. Police haven’t made any arrests in that case, but don’t believe there is any connection to the incident Wednesday.

Portland police said they want to speak with anyone who witnessed the gunfire just after 8 a.m., and they’re looking for two vehicles seen leaving the scene.

No one was injured, but officers who swarmed the area by 8:25 a.m. found evidence that two gunshots had struck a building.

Witnesses saw a gray or silver Toyota Prius and a silver early model Honda CRV with a spare tire on its rear hatch fleeing the area, said Assistant Police Chief Vern Malloch.

Police K-9 teams initially searched an apartment building at 109 Gilman St., but it appeared that no one was arrested. Investigators believe the parties involved know each other, but no motive is known and police do not know the identities of the two men who might have been the targets.

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“Right now we’re extremely fortunate that no one was injured,” Malloch said. “This is a densely populated area.”

The gunman appeared to have been standing in front of 98 Gilman St. when the shots were fired, south from where police activity was originally focused, Malloch said.

“We’re looking for the public’s assistance in this,” he said. “We’ve had great cooperation from the neighbors and residents of that area already and we’re looking at some video that exists from that street, but we’ll need more help, obviously.”

WITNESS SAW WOMAN WITH GUN

A witness to the gunfire, who declined to give his name because he feared getting involved in the violence, said he saw the Prius stop in the road and a woman get out of the front passenger seat. He said he heard two gunshots and saw her pointing a weapon in the direction of two men who had been talking with someone in the CRV.

After he heard the pops, the witness said, he saw the men run – with one entering the building at 109 Gilman St. and the other fleeing toward Valley Street. The Gilman Street building is owned by Rahaman LLC, a Maine corporation whose listed owner is Shamayel Kargar of Falmouth. Kargar could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

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Though Lt. Robert Martin said police have responded to less than a dozen incidents in that area of Gilman Street in the past six months, there was an unsolved killing in an apartment at 88 Gilman St. on March 15.

In that case, Portland police said someone shot and killed 36-year-old David “Shycago” Anderson, who was visiting a resident at the Shalom House property.

“We have no information that leads us to believe the two incidents are connected in any way,” Malloch said.

A police affidavit that remained sealed until late June said the gunman, who was caught on surveillance video – he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and his face was covered with a mask – paused to pick up shell casings that could have been used as evidence. The affidavit says the killer fired multiple shots through the door of Apartment 305. Five people were inside the apartment at the time.

At least six shots were fired when Anderson went to the door of the apartment and demanded that the shooter turn toward the peephole so that he could see his face, the affidavit says. Anderson was struck in the left side of his back and the middle of his chest. Abdirahman Abdullahi was standing behind Anderson and was wounded in the thigh.

Shalom House provides services to hundreds of people with serious mental illness, offering community-based mental health services and affordable housing to people who suffer from homelessness, hunger and isolation.

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The three-story Shalom House building at 88 Gilman St. is roughly 100 feet from where the shots were fired Wednesday morning.

After the initial report of the shots Wednesday, police remained in the area through the morning, fanning out around the street, peering under cars, scouring street gutters and knocking on doors.

At 98 Gilman St., where the shooter is believed to have been standing, officers placed two evidence markers on the pavement and marked the area with green spray paint.

BULLET HOLE IN WINDOW, WALL

A resident at 105 Gilman St. said she wasn’t home when the shooting took place, but when she returned home around 9 a.m. she found shattered glass on her living room windowsill.

That’s when she looked up and saw a bullet hole in the windowpane.

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The resident, who asked not to be identified because she was afraid of being targeted, said she could see where the bullet lodged in the wall across the room.

“I’m just glad my kids weren’t home,” she said.

She said the neighborhood has been beset by disturbances ever since a group of people moved into an apartment at 109 Gilman St. Police have made frequent visits to the area, she said.

As she spoke, police were combing her living room for evidence, she said.

A resident of 109 Gilman St., Quita Ligia, said her upstairs neighbors have been the source of the trouble, making noise, fighting or partying late into the night.

“I sleep in my dining room because they make too much noise,” Ligia said.

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City spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said someone filed a complaint Tuesday with the city’s housing safety office regarding 105 Gilman St. The complainant said there were electrical issues that the Portland Fire Department has been made aware of, Grondin said. A no-water complaint and an electrical complaint were filed with the city in September.

Anyone with information is urged to call police at 874-8575, text the word “GOTCHA” plus their message to 274637, or submit a tip anonymously online.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.

 

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