Three young men were gunned down in broad daylight on North Foss Avenue on March 25, 2023, and more than three years later, federal investigators are still asking the public for help identifying two of the three shooters caught on camera. Seventeen-year-old Eskender Tamra, 19-year-old Babu Daudi, and 20-year-old Patrick Johnson were killed when gunfire tore through their car near the Charles Jordan Community Center in Portland's Portsmouth neighborhood, and while one teenager has since been indicted, authorities say the case is far from closed.
A Grand Jury Indictment, But Not the Whole Picture
In June 2024, Multnomah County prosecutors announced that 18-year-old Omar Mohammed Osman had been indicted by a grand jury on a sweeping 27-count indictment, including six counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder, according to KGW. At the time of the indictment, Osman was already in custody at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Marion County, serving time on unrelated charges, per the same station's reporting. As detailed by KOIN, the Federal Bureau of Investigation believes three people shot at the victims' car numerous times, and has classified the case as a mass shooting.
That distinction matters because Osman's indictment represents only partial resolution. The Portland Police Bureau and the FBI have confirmed that at least two additional unidentified suspects who took part in the daylight ambush remain at large, according to the North Peninsula Review. Doorbell footage reviewed by investigators showed three individuals on foot firing roughly three dozen gunshots at the victims' light-colored sedan near North Foss Avenue and North Foss Court before chasing the car down the street, per Crimesolvers Central.
Victims Found in Their Car at a North Portland Intersection
Portland police found the victims' car at an intersection on March 25, 2023, according to KOIN's reporting. Tamra was a junior at Franklin High School, Daudi was a senior at Roosevelt High School, and Johnson lived in Portland. Tamra had immigrated to Oregon from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with his older sister to pursue better educational opportunities, and family members remembered him as a motivated and kind student, per Crimesolvers Central.
Portland Public Schools responded to the shooting at the time, extending condolences to the victims' families and saying it would work alongside city, county, and state leaders to find solutions to gun violence, KOIN reported. Then-Mayor Ted Wheeler also issued public statements on the tragedy.
FBI Reward Still Stands as Family Pleads for Answers
The FBI formally announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the shooters during a November 16, 2023 press conference at North Portland's University Park, near the crime scene, where FBI Special Agent in Charge Kieran L. Ramsey spoke alongside grieving family members, the North Peninsula Review reported. The reward, confirmed on the bureau's own site, underscores how heavily federal and local authorities still depend on community tips to bring the remaining shooters to justice.
Osman was formally arraigned in court on June 21, 2024, a date that coincided with what would have been Johnson's 22nd birthday, according to the North Peninsula Review. As of now, no additional arrests have been made in the case.
How Oregon's Juvenile Justice Law Shapes the Case
Because Osman was 17 at the time of the shooting, his prosecution intersects with Oregon's Senate Bill 1008, enacted in 2019. Under that law, juvenile defendants accused of serious violent crimes like first-degree murder no longer face automatic prosecution as adults; instead, a formal judicial waiver hearing is required to transfer such cases to adult court, and the law offers parole eligibility after 15 years, according to the Oregon State Legislature.
The killings also arrived amid a broader citywide reckoning with gun violence. Portland Police Bureau data released in January 2024 showed the city recorded 73 homicides in 2023, a 23% drop from the record peak of 95 homicides in 2022, alongside a 22% drop in overall shooting incidents, according to OPB. Even as that citywide trend improved, the Portsmouth ambush remains one of the most violent unsolved chapters of that stretch, with two of its three shooters still unidentified more than three years after three young men lost their lives on a quiet North Portland street.
