Police on Thursday arrested two men they say were involved in a July altercation near a northeast Salem shopping center that erupted into gunfire, leaving one man wounded.
FD Tari, 33, of Salem, was arrested on accusations of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon, the Salem Police Department said in a news release. State court records showed no charges filed as of Thursday afternoon.
Tari also had three outstanding warrants from unrelated cases.
Teno Epone, 25, of Dallas, was also arrested on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and giving false information to a police officer, as well as two unrelated warrants.
On July 9, Salem police responded to a report of a man injured in the 2000 block of Northeast Lancaster Drive. They found a man with multiple gunshot wounds and provided aid before paramedics arrived, according to the police statement.
The victim, Allen M. Harmon, 32, of Lincoln City, was taken to Salem Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police learned that there was a “verbal encounter” between the men and the victim in the parking lot of the shopping center before one of the suspects fired gunshots, the news release said. The two suspects then fled on foot.
Nearly three months later, a patrol officer was investigating a report of “suspicious activity” just before 1 a.m. on Thursday when he found the suspects, Tari and Epone, in River Road Park, 3045 River Rd. N.E., according to the statement.
Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick said there was no indication that the suspects knew the victim. She said she could not clarify how police determined the two men were suspects in the July incident.
Officers seized a handgun during the arrests.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.