A 33-year-old St. Helens man is facing seven felony charges after Portland police say he pistol-whipped and shot another man in the Montavilla neighborhood earlier this month. Devin M. Stevens was arrested on Friday, August 28, following an investigation that spanned more than three weeks and involved the seizure of his vehicle and cell phones as evidence.
The shooting happened on August 5 in the 1400 block of Northeast 81st Avenue, where an adult male victim was pistol-whipped and shot, according to a Portland Police news release. The victim's injuries were described as non-life-threatening, and police say the suspect fled the scene before officers arrived.
How Investigators Tracked Down Stevens
Detectives with the Portland Police Bureau's Enhanced Community Safety Team identified Stevens as the suspect in the days that followed. Officers with the bureau's Focused Intervention Team then stopped him to seize his vehicle and cell phones for evidence, building the case that led to his arrest on August 28, per the release.
After his arrest, Stevens was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on one count of First-Degree Assault, three counts of Second-Degree Assault, and three counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon. He remains held in county custody. The relationship between Stevens and the victim, along with what may have sparked the confrontation, has not been disclosed.
What Stevens Could Face in Court
First-Degree Assault is a Class A felony under Oregon Revised Statutes 163.185, and it falls under the state's Measure 11 law. That statute mandates a 90-month, or 7.5-year, minimum prison sentence upon conviction, with maximum penalties reaching up to 20 years in prison and $375,000 in fines, according to legal guidance published by Scissors Law.
The Enhanced Community Safety Team, the unit that led the investigation, was established in 2021 and is made up of sergeants, officers, and detectives tasked with investigating all injury shootings across Portland, according to background published by Multnomah County. The Focused Intervention Team that assisted in the arrest launched in January 2022 to proactively conduct high-risk interdiction and targeted enforcement against gun violence, a mission that grew out of the 2020 disbandment of earlier gun violence units.
A Neighborhood With a Recent History of Gunfire
Montavilla is an East Portland neighborhood of roughly 17,000 residents spanning 2.18 square miles between Mount Tabor and Interstate 205, according to background compiled on Wikipedia. It's not the first violent shooting the neighborhood has seen in the past year. In September 2025, a 45-year-old man was killed and another was wounded in a fatal shooting at a bar on Southeast Harrison Street, a case that led to second-degree murder charges against a 37-year-old suspect who was detained at the scene, as Hoodline previously reported. In May, a 48-year-old man was arrested after firing shots inside a Montavilla home on Southeast Ankeny Street, a case Hoodline also covered at the time.
The arrest comes amid a broader citywide decline in gun violence. Portland recorded a 30% drop in shooting incidents in 2025 compared to 2024, logging 525 shooting incidents for its lowest annual total since 2019, according to KATU. City data released in April also showed local homicides down 56% year-to-date, with non-fatal shootings falling from 453 in early 2022 to 171 in early 2026, figures the city attributes in part to gun violence prevention programs like Ceasefire.
No court date for Stevens has been made public, and it remains unclear when he will be arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Anyone with information about the case can contact Portland police through the non-emergency line at 503-823-3333.
