QuickTake:

Eugene police said they arrived to find the shooting victim and another person who had apparently overdosed on drugs. Naloxone was used to revive the person who had overdosed, but police declined to say whether the shooting victim had survived.

A shooting Tuesday, Oct. 27, in west Eugene took place in an alley off of Grant Street that one neighbor described as a frequent gathering place for drug use.

Police tape blocked off Grant Street at 10th Avenue by 6:30 p.m., less than an hour after police arrived to find the man who had been shot.

Eugene police Lt. Jeremy Williams declined to say whether the man survived the shooting. 

“I can tell you he’s an older male,” Williams said, as officers behind him could be seen blocking the roadway or standing near where the shooting took place.

Police received “numerous” 911 calls at about 5:30 p.m. of a shooting, Williams said. 

Officers arrived to find the shooting victim and another person who appeared to have overdosed on drugs, Williams said.

“That person recovered with the administration of Narcan, and is being questioned in regard to this incident,” Williams said.

Williams said one witness was detained, but he emphasized Tuesday evening that the investigation was still in its early stages with no one arrested.

“We are seeking witnesses,” Williams said, asking anyone with information to call the police department’s nonemergency phone number, 541-682-5111.

Williams also said police did not know of any video showing what took place and were asking for people nearby to provide any videos they may have.

“The details surrounding the shooting itself are unknown at this point,” Williams said.

Carson Quam, 36, said he lives about a half-block away from where the shooting took place, and that it’s not uncommon to pass by the alley where the man was shot and see “large groups of people congregating and using drugs there, like maybe five or 10 people on average.”

“Last night, the night before, and pretty much like the last several weeks before that, if you walk by on any evening, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’re going to see some form of drug use there,” Quam said.

Quam, who said he’s lived in the neighborhood for about four years, said he’s seen police in the area. At one time police had a camera positioned nearby, he said.

“But it’s like the resources just aren’t there to actually fully mitigate the problem,” Quam said. 

Neighbors submitted a report with their concerns this summer to the Eugene police auditor, Quam said. The purpose of the report was to point out a lack of Eugene police response to past service complaints in the neighborhood.

“There’s been a little bit of traction since then,” he said.

“I think it’s a neighborhood that has a lot of potential, and we have a nice park just a half-block away that recently went through a renovation,” Quam said.

But he said he’s spoken with families who feel unsafe having their children play in the park.

“I just hope that EPD gets more resources out here to help turn the neighborhood around, and decides to bring the camera station back and just gives our neighborhood some more support,” Quam said.

Madeleine Kerner, 32, said she heard “at least three loud bangs” from inside her home. Peering outside her window, she said she saw neighbors she knows hustling to get away from the area.

“I saw them walking fast, over through the park and then running home,” Kerner said.

“It’s just a shame. All of it,” she said.