Portland police had no new information Monday about a shooting in Bayside a day earlier, but they hoped to speak to the victim, a 49-year-old woman who was still being treated at the hospital.
Lt. Robert Martin said police did not plan to release the woman’s name at least until detectives have a chance to interview her.
“Right now, we just want to hear from her,” Martin said.
The shooting occurred just before 9 a.m. Sunday on Parris Street, not far from one of the city’s main social service agencies, Preble Street Resource Center.
Police said the victim and the assailant had been arguing just before shots were fired.
The suspect was described as a young, white male. He drove off in a small silver SUV, possibly with Massachusetts plates, with a passenger, also a white male. They fled the area in the vehicle and the shooting suspect is considered at large.
Martin said he couldn’t release any information about a possible motive and couldn’t say whether the victim and gunman knew each other.
“We’ve talked to some witnesses but have been hearing different things,” he said.
Police do not believe there is an imminent threat to anyone else.
The victim was taken to Maine Medical Center with what police described as non-life threatening injuries. A neighbor said Sunday that the woman was shot in the knee.
Laura Cannon, who lives on Parris Street and is vice president of the neighborhood association, said the shooting may have been drug-related. Cannon said she and her husband went outside to investigate and overheard the victim, whom she did not recognize, telling police that she had confronted her assailant about doing drugs on a public way.
In the past, Cannon said she, too, has confronted people doing drugs on the street but plans to be more cautious in the future after what happened Sunday.
Martin said detectives tried to interview the victim Monday morning but she was still heavily medicated. They planned to try again later in the day.
At the crime scene late Monday morning, there was fresh orange paint with letters marking spots but no neighbors were home near where the shooting took place.
Two city employees who were operating a mobile needle exchange a couple of blocks from the shooting scene said there hadn’t been much talk about what had happened.
Portland’s Bayside neighborhood has a cluster of social service agencies, such as Preble Street and the Oxford Street Shelter, which attract large numbers of homeless people and drug users on a daily basis.
In this past weekend’s edition, the Maine Sunday Telegram provided a graphic and disturbing look at the area, where it’s not uncommon for residents to see drug use, fights and even sexual acts in public places.
Anyone who might have information about Sunday’s shooting can contact the Portland Police Department at (207) 874-8575
Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or at:
Twitter: PPHEricRussell
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