Police Are Looking for “at Least One More Shooter” Who Took Part in Sunday’s Downtown Shootout

The firefight appeared to be between politically opposed groups.

fingers An anti-fascist in a kevlar vest flips off a Portland police cruiser following a shootout along Southwest 2nd Avenue on Aug. 22. (Brian Brose)

In the aftermath of last night’s shootout downtown, police are looking for “at least one more shooter” who exchanged fire with Dennis G. Anderson on Sunday evening.

Several journalists and activists were on Southwest 2nd Avenue and filmed Anderson firing from behind a trash can on the west side of the street. In many videos, Anderson can be seen firing one round before his pistol seems to jam. He pulls back the barrel, attempting to cycle the gun.

Someone then fires six shots back at him.

What’s unusual about the highly documented firefight is that so many people on the block were filming and yet none of them panned to the east side of the street to show who was firing back. The lack of information left the door open for speculation as to who could have fired back at Anderson.

From witness accounts and a photograph viewed by WW, those who fired back at Anderson were clad in the “black bloc” garb of organized leftists, and had been in the crowd that began following him after he brandished a gun at a group of younger activists. In video obtained by WW, the crowd pursued him from a distance, yelling at him to “walk away.”

What caused Anderson to start firing wasn’t obvious to anyone WW spoke to, but video shows him taking cover behind a trash can. “Get the fuck away from me!” he yells.

After Anderson’s gun seemed to jam, he fled and police arrested him, charging him with unlawful possession of a firearm, a class A misdemeanor, and unlawful use of a weapon, which is a class C felony—booking him at 8:19 pm.

Anderson had been released by the morning. His bail is unknown at this time. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to WW’s questions about bail.

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