On the afternoon of January 23, 2025, a sudden act of violence irrevocably shattered the peace of a local park and ended the life of a teenager. Jorge Ovidio Mateo Vasquez, a 17-year-old Hispanic male, was at Vance Park in Gresham, a city on the eastern edge of Portland, Oregon. He was on the futsal court, a space typically reserved for recreation and community, when he was fatally shot in what authorities have described as an apparently unprovoked attack.
The incident occurred shortly after 4:00 p.m., a time when the park would normally be filled with activity. When Gresham police officers arrived at the scene in the 1400 block of Southeast 182nd Avenue, they found the young man deceased from gunshot wounds. The person or persons responsible had already fled, leaving a community in shock and mourning.
The investigation into the homicide was swiftly undertaken by the East County Major Crimes Team, a collaborative effort involving detectives from the Gresham Police Department, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and the Port of Portland Police Department. As they began to piece together the events of that tragic afternoon, the community grappled with the senseless loss. In the days that followed, officials publicly acknowledged the deep concerns surrounding gun violence in the area. Gresham's Police Chief, Travis Gullberg, spoke to this fear and highlighted local initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of such violence, hoping to prevent future tragedies.
Weeks after the shooting, the investigation led to a significant development. Authorities publicly identified the suspect as 16-year-old Camerino Vides, a former student of Gresham High School. Despite identifying a suspect, law enforcement was unable to locate him, and an appeal was made to the public for assistance. Authorities released Vides's photo and warned that he may be armed, urging citizens not to approach him but to contact 911 immediately with any information regarding his whereabouts. As the search for the suspect continued, the family of Jorge Ovidio Mateo Vasquez requested privacy to grieve their profound loss, while a community waited for justice to be served.
