Police ask for public’s help in investigation
Michael Johnson, 53, has been identified as the man found shot and killed on Dec. 23 inside a tent at a homeless camp next to Farragut Park in north Portland. (Family photo courtesy of Portland Police Bureau.)
Portland Police are asking for the public’s help with their investigation into the death of Michael Johnson, a 53-year-old Black man who was found shot and killed inside a tent at a homeless camp next to Farragut Park in north Portland.
Police were called to the area on Dec. 23 after a 911 caller reported someone had been shot. Police believe the shooter fled in a car after the murder.
A family member said Johnson had lived in the camp for about 18 months after becoming homeless four years ago. Anthony Johnson told a reporter for the Oregonian that he tried to get his brother off the streets.
“You can turn this around Mike, that was the last conversation I had with him, trying to convince him that we could make his life better,” Anthony Johnson told the newspaper. “We don’t know why someone would do this to him. He was going through a lot of challenges in his life, but Michael was a good dude.”
He described his brother, who leaves behind a son, as someone who didn’t carry a weapon or mention any problems with those living in the encampment, adding that he was the type of person to make sure everyone in the unhoused community had something to eat.
Police would like anyone who was in Farragut Park near the time of the shooting, on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. to contact them.
Detectives are also asking for contact from anyone who believes they captured video, through technology such as their ring doorbell, of the park or its immediate surroundings during that same time period.
Contact Detective Ryan Foote at Ryan.Foote@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0781 or Detective Travis Law at Travis.Law@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0395.