Portland strip club: Shooter had been denied entry

Owners of a SE Portland strip club said Monday a man who shot and wounded three people there Saturday night was denied entry because of belligerent behavior and racist comments. He returned half an hour later, armed with a gun and wearing a scary Halloween mask.

KGW reports the shooting happened just before 9 p.m. Saturday, when the gunman walked into the Mystic Gentleman’s Club at Southeast Stark Street and Southeast 99th Avenue and opened fire, said Sgt. Pete Simpson with Portland police.

The shooter hit three people, prompting a person in the bar to return fire, hitting and critically injuring the suspect.

“The shooter came in and just started shooting without any kind of warning,” victim Gonzalo Zamora-Hernandeza told KGW Monday.

Brian Rizzo, a 26-year-old security guard from the club, was hit by the shooter at the front door and was still in critical condition with life-threatening injuries Monday.

Zamora-Hernandez, 31, and waitress Nichole Procter, 27, were treated and released with less serious injuries, Simpson said.

Zamora-Hernandez said he was playing video poker when he was shot in the foot.

“They started screaming, ‘Call 911, call 911,’ and then I sit down and I start looking at my foot, so paramedics show up and they checked my foot and said, ‘Yeah, you got shot,'” Zamora-Hernandez said.

The shooter has not yet been identified. He remains in critical but stable condition at a Portland hospital.

The person who returned fire and hit the suspect was not arrested and was cooperating with police.

“Portland is a safe city; however, gun violence is pervasive. As we’ve seen elsewhere, it’s really easy for someone with a gun to hurt a lot of people,” said Sgt. Greg Stewart with the Portland Police Bureau.