'Guys, I've Been Shot': A Portland Shooting Survivor's Story

PORTLAND, OR — In the early morning hours of May 24, shortly after 2 a.m., Byron Christopher Anderson entered Voodoo Doughnut in downtown Portland frantic and bleeding.

"Guys, I've been shot," Anderson remembered saying. "I'm going into shock."

It looked like something out of an old western, Anderson recalled, like when someone would burst into the town saloon and everything would go quiet as people turned to see the source of the disturbance.

"One guy almost had a doughnut in his mouth," Anderson told Patch Tuesday, chuckling at what would otherwise have been a comical sight any other time — a man's mouth agape, doughnut nearly touching his lips, eyes frozen with shock and terror.

"I can only laugh now," he said.

After surviving what should have been a fatal gunshot wound, Anderson's demeanor might seem surprising to some. Joking and laughing from his hospital room in Portland, Anderson said the whole experience has changed his life.

"I'm upset, but I'm also happy I'm alive," he said.

#WhoIsChrisAnderson

Earlier that night Anderson was DJ'ing for VERSE, a RAW Artists Portland event at the Roseland Theater.

From 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. May 23, Anderson joined several local musicians and performance artists for a show to promote Portland area talent.

A Seattle-based drummer, producer, filmmaker, and hip hop artist, Anderson has toured with psychedelic alternative hip hop band Gorillaz, rapper Mos Def, R&B artist Erykah Badu, and the Chicago-based Hypnotic Brass Ensemble — mostly under the name Chris Anderson, which he promotes using the hashtag #WhoIsChrisAnderson.

A father to four young kids, Anderson is also an advocate for youth programs in Seattle, where he works with community organizers to mentor at-risk teens.

More well-known in the Seattle area, Anderson has been called an 'entertainment renaissance man' for all his advocacy and work in the music industry; but on May 24 he became a statistic — just another Portland shooting victim. And police have yet to make an arrest.

'This All Started Over The Cubs'

After leaving the RAW Portland event, Anderson said he and two friends went to Black Book, a Portland nightclub located at 20 N.W. Third Ave., about two blocks east from the Roseland Theater.

It was there Anderson would come face-to-face with the man who would shoot him just a short while later.

Born and raised in Chicago, Anderson said a man wearing Chicago Cubs baseball gear — a blue Cubs hat and a white Cubs jersey — caught his eye, so he decided to approach him.

Anderson said he tried to be friendly, sharing fandom for a team he supports, as sports fans generally do, but the man in the Cubs gear immediately became irate.

"His reactions were not normal — like a crazy person," Anderson said. "And I wasn't trying to be that guy, you know, who won't take a hint and walk away when they've upset someone. I wasn't all, c'mon, man, why are you mad? I just walked away."

The man in the Cubs gear remained agitated, though, Anderson said. Even after his friends escorted him out of the bar, Anderson remembered seeing the man pace back and forth outside the window, visibly upset.

Of course, at the time, Anderson had no idea what was coming.

Leaving Black Book, Anderson and his friend talked about going for pizza across West Burnside Street, one block to Lonesome's Pizza, he said. But as they walked to the car, the man in the Cubs gear returned.

He walked up to Anderson and asked, "What's going on now?" Anderson recalled.

As he spoke the words, the man pulled out a handgun and fired one shot. Anderson said he clenched his body, pulling his right arm up across his chest. The sound of the shot startled him and caused him to fall backward. At first, he didn't realize he'd been shot.

Jumping to his feet, Anderson took off running east, past the shooter who fled north on Third Avenue.

"We were so close we brushed shoulders," Anderson said.

As he ran, Anderson saw that he was bleeding from his arm — but was still unaware of the severity of his wound.

"My friend was shouting for me to 'hurry up', and 'let’s go,'" he said.

Seeing Voodoo Doughnut across Southwest Third Avenue, Anderson ran through the door, he said, trying to focus on his breathing using techniques he learned from his massage therapist girlfriend.

"Guys, I've been shot," Anderson said before slumping against a wall and sliding to the floor.

'DJ Zen Master'

At the hospital, Anderson learned the bullet went through his right bicep and into his body, passing through his liver, diaphragm, and a lung before coming to rest just below his heart, near his stomach, "Just above the pizza and chicken wings I ate yesterday," he joked in a Facebook post.

"The doctors are passing my x-rays around calling it a phenomenon," Anderson said of his survival, noting the experience has changed his entire outlook on life. "Man, I'm talking about quitting drinking, smoking — all that. I'm about to be DJ Zen Master."

With his 37th birthday on June 3, Anderson said this new lease on life will augment his approach to being a father, a partner, and a mentor.

"Life is awesome," he said in an email. "If we take the time to have a moment while having a moment, and recognize that we're having a moment, it makes the moment that much better. For example, if you and your kids are sitting at the beach eating ice cream, and the sun is going down over the ocean and the breeze is blowing across your face, recognize that moment as a moment and store it in your mind — 'cause when you get shot and you're dying, everything you've experienced passes in clips and flashes. By taking the time to enjoy your moments, maybe you'll make the 'life flashing before my eyes' experience a little more enjoyable."

Anderson was released from the hospital on May 31 and promptly returned home to Seattle, where he said he'll pick up where he left off "with a full summer of shows, events, and appearances like nothing ever went down. I can't wait to see my kids and enjoy being in the moment and really appreciating that."

Meanwhile, Portland police continue to investigate Anderson's shooting — which Anderson said they initially thought was gang related. They've obtained security footage from Black Book, Anderson said, verifying the man in the Cubs gear and corroborating Anderson’s version of events.

"The police did identify the shooter, but the picture quality of the video is bad which is not allowing them to clearly make out the shooter's face," he said.

After showing him a mug shot photo array, Anderson said he didn't see the man who shot him.

"I feel like the police are looking into the matter, (but) I also feel like they could look deeper into it — maybe checking out other businesses with cameras in the area of the shooting," Anderson said. "But if the club was the only place to capture the shooter and myself then I understand. It's just hard when we have shows like CSI that boost our inner detective spirits."

The shooter is described as a black adult male, late 20s to early 30s, with a thin moustache.

Patch has reached out to the Portland Police Bureau and is awaiting a response to several questions.

As the investigation is ongoing, publishable information will be scarce; however, this post will be updated when more information is made available.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Portland Police Bureau non-emergency line at 503-823-3333.