Vandalism mars effort to clear notorious park of crime

SALEM, Ore. - A local community on a crusade to clean up a park after a deadly shooting is now dealing with more crime, and this time it's vandalism.

At Northgate Park there was paint sprayed everywhere over the weekend - on the trees, on the sidewalk and on the fence. Monday morning, crews painted over the graffiti and scrubbed the trees.

Alex Seufert, a 16-year-old who volunteers with the city's parks department, has worked hard to reclaim the park from crime. Last May, three young people were shot there while sitting on a park bench, one of whom was Seufert's friend, 21-year-old Montez Bailey.

Since then, Seufert says the community has really come together to help clean up the park but he is worried the next target could be the new Peace and Forgiveness Garden where Bailey's family planted a tree in the young man's memory.

"We need to have a neighborhood watch," he said. "We used to have one and it suddenly disappeared. I mean, we have signs up but there's no neighborhood watch."

Seufert plans to pitch his idea at a meeting on Tuesday and says he will be patrolling the park in his free time.

Previous Stories

• Three young men shot in Salem park
• Salem triple-shooting victim dies
• Family calls for an end to the violence
• Suspect identified in shooting at Salem park