Man, 18, dies after being shot in car in Southeast Portland | Crime

PORTLAND, Ore. - Police arrived at the scene of a reported shooting in the area of Southeast 135th Avenue and Sherman Street to find a man shot in a car just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said the victim was able to drive his vehicle for a few blocks before crashing into a yard on Southeast 135th Avenue.

Early Thursday morning, police said the 18-year-old male victim, Larry Ma, died after being taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. A small Mercedes SLK sports car was towed from the scene. Ma, who was driving the car when he was shot, was able to drive a few blocks before he crashed into a chained-linked fence and flower bed.

Ma recently graduated from David Douglas high School and planned to attend PSU, according to sources who spoke with the Oregonian. Following an autopsy, police said Ma died from gunshot wounds. A Facebook page dedicated to Ma appeared online Thursday.

Police said they don’t think the shooting was gang-related but the investigation is ongoing. In a press release on Thursday, detectives said they do not believe this was a drive-by shooting, nor is it connected to the two shootings earlier Wednesday morning in North and Northeast Portland.

The suspect is still on the loose and police set up a perimeter of several blocks around the shooting location and used dogs to aid in the search. Early Thursday morning the streets were reopened to some traffic as local residents headed out to work.

Local resident Shannon Case, who lives near the site of the shooting, said he isn't surprised at the shooting and that residents are sick of the high crime rate in their neighborhood. "It's very disturbing. I stay in my house all the time," Case told KATU News. "I don't like to go on out because this is what happens... in my neighborhood."

Not far from David Douglas High School Thursday, friends of Ma mourned.

“They took someone’s life that was so young. He wanted to do so much,” said Wendy Zhang.

Police have released few additional details but said the shooting is now a homicide. They said it’s too early to know if drugs were involved. A background check into Ma’s past revealed only a minor misdemeanor for criminal mischief.

No suspect information has been released.