Man fatally shot in church; pastors decry gang violence

   PORTLAND — Following a fatal shooting Dec. 12 at a north Portland church, about a dozen local pastors came together to decry ongoing gang violence in the city.
   Still at large is a suspect, considered armed and dangerous, and charged with the shooting that took place during a funeral at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 3725 N. Gantenbein Ave. Latwan Brown, 30, faces one count of murder following the Dec. 15 death of Darshawn Lavonne Cross. Anyone with information is asked to phone Portland police Det. Mark Slater, 503-823-9319.
   According to police, Cross had a criminal history of gang-related activity. He had been hospitalized at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center with unspecified wounds..
   The shooting occurred in the back of the church at 12:23 p.m., during a funeral for an elderly woman. Cal Mitchell, a church trustee, told The Oregonian he was standing in the lobby when Cross and Brown began fighting about five feet away. People separated the two, with one taken to a small sanctuary and the other to the lobby. But a door connects the two areas, and the fight soon resumed. Shot four times, Cross collapsed. About 150 people at the funeral were fleeing the church as police arrived. Robert Jointer, the church’s pastor, said it was a miracle no one else was wounded.
Twelve pastors in the Albina Ministerial Alliance came together Dec. 19 at Allen Temple CME Church to publicly call for Brown to surrender and to demand gangs halt their ongoing warfare. They also called for increased funding for gang enforcement, outreach and intervention programs. But two street preachers who attended said the pastors’ public plea is not enough and that ministers must reach out to gang members on their own turf.