Police in Eugene, Oregon are investigating a shooting at a rap concert that left six people hospitalized. The incident took place outside the WOW Hall at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 14) night. Rappers Zay Bang and Lil Bean were among the performers scheduled to hit the stage.
During a press conference on Saturday (Jan. 15), Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said there were “multiple victims with gunshot wounds.”
“I think this is about as close as you’re going to get and certainly one of the highest profile shootings that we’ve had in the city of Eugene,” he said.
Skinner explained that one victim was in critical condition and undergoing surgery. And the others, according to a Eugene Police Department press release, are stable. All of the victims, with the exception of one, are from out of town. Two are women and four are men.
The department believes they have identified a suspect who fled the scene shortly after shots were fired. “All we know at this point is we have a male in a hoodie that was seen running westbound on 8th right after the shooting. We think that’s our suspect,” said Skinner.
Skinner added that detectives had a difficult time receiving statements from witnesses who attended the show.
“There was not anybody that was willing to cooperate or to come forward and give us any kind of witness statements about what they may or may not have seen,” he said. “What we’re really struggling with is the fact that we know we have witnesses, we know we probably have video and audio evidence that’s available. We just need people to feel comfortable to bring it forward so we can better understand what happened and better identify our suspect.”
Local Eugene, Oregon rapper Savelle Tha Native, who was billed as an opener at the concert, addressed the shooting on Instagram.
“I want to send my deepest condolences to my people who got shot last night. That ain’t have to happen and shxx is not sweet,” he wrote. “Sad that this happened as we as a community are starting gain traction in the hip hop scene. A few things could have changed the course of last night, security being the main focus.”
The Gun Violence Archive, which gathers data about mass shootings across the country, has recorded over a dozen mass shootings — including the Oregon incident — since the beginning of 2022, Newsweek reported.