18-year-old man arrested for triple murder in Portland

An 18-year-old man has been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two high school students and a 20-year-old Portland man last year as the three were riding together in a car in North Portland.

Omar Mohammed Osman was transferred from the MacLaren Juvenile Detention Center to the downtown jail at 1:44 p.m. Thursday to face charges in Multnomah County District Court.

Police believe that at least two other people were involved in the shooting and have not yet been arrested.

Eskender Tamra, 17, was riding with 19-year-old Babu Daudi and 20-year-old Patrick Johnson Jr. when their car was struck by a volley of bullets from three people on the sidewalk of North Foss Avenue near University Park on March 25, 2023.

Tamra was a junior at Franklin High School and Daudi was a senior at Roosevelt High School who was known by the first name Isaac. In emails to the students’ families shortly after the shootings, officials described both students as “quiet, reserved and respectful.”

Osman faces a 27-count indictment: six counts of first-degree murder, four counts of premeditated murder, seven counts of unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm, seven counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of first-degree cruelty to animals.

The ten murder charges are based on various alleged theories about the killings. The charges were not publicly disclosed in court records on Thursday.

In March of this year, a grand jury heard testimony in the case, police said. Police did not say what crime Osman was being held in the juvenile hall for, describing it only as unrelated to the murders.

“This murder in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood was not only tragic for the loss of three young lives, but has deeply shocked our entire community,” Police Chief Bob Day said in a statement late Thursday.

Police responded to reports of heavy gunfire at 12:23 p.m. Saturday and found the three victims shot to death in a light-colored sedan on North Foss Avenue near North Foss Court. Video footage from a doorbell obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows three pedestrians apparently firing repeatedly at a light-colored sedan. About three dozen shots can be heard in the footage.

The youngest of the victims, Tamra, emigrated to Oregon from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with his older sister for better educational opportunities. Their mother had moved to Portland in 2009, and they were reunited in 2016. He worked two jobs, taking shifts at Fred Meyer and Taco Bell while also completing his schoolwork at Franklin High School in Southeast Portland. He was scheduled to go from one job to another when he was shot, his sister said.

Friends described him as motivated, sociable and “genuinely friendly”.

Last November, the FBI offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and conviction in the triple murder case.

Day thanked the people who passed on information to police.

“I hope this indictment represents a first step toward healing for the suffering families of the victims and our entire community,” he said.

Police are asking anyone with additional information about the case to contact Detective Jason Koenig at [email protected] or 503-823-0889 or Detective William Winters at [email protected] 503-823-0466, quoting case number 23-77440.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal courts and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow her on X @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

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