Interim Police Chief J. Heath Gorham Recently.

Just after 11:00 pm last night, the Fourth of July, 2022, Portland Police responded to a report that a man had been shot at Kennedy Park on the east end of Portland, according to a press release issued by the police department this morning.

As the man lay on the ground in the area of Kennedy Park and Smith Street, he was physically assaulted by one or more people.  The first officers arrived on scene and used trauma dressings and other supplies from their medical kits to provide immediate life saving treatment to the victim until medics from the Portland Fire Department arrived and took over his care.

The victim, Bashir Hassan, (05-04-1987), of Portland, was transported to Maine Medical Center where he is being treated.  He is reported to be in stable condition at this time.

The suspect is described as a black male, about 6 ft. tall, wth a larger build.  Police do not believe there is any danger to the public.

While officers were arriving on scene, a crowd that formed became hostile toward officers as they rendered aid to the victim.  Soon after their arrival, they came under attack from a group that discharged fireworks at the officers. The attack continued as invetigators remained on scene for the next several hours.  Officers were forced to deploy pepper balls into the group that were targeting officers with mortor-style fireworks.  Several officers were struck with sparks from the fireworks that were intentionally aimed at them.  No officers were seriously injured.

However, one witness, Lisa Smith, told this blogger that:  “The police were more concerned about the police rather than the black man lying on the ground.  They were backing up and getting away from the fireworks rather than going to assist the shot man on the ground,” she said.  “It’s dangerous here in Kennedy Park.  No one wants to witness or get involved because of fear of retaliation by the gunman.  Apparently the gunman got away and has not been identified so far Smith speculated.  “I’m sure that someone here at Kennedy Park knows who shot the man.  But no one is talking.”

This is the second year in a row in which officers were attacked by fireworks while reporting to a weapons call near Kennedy Park over the July 4th holiday weekend.

No word on whether or not arrests were made despite a follow up inquiry from this blogger.  Arrest the fireworks!