Originally published on March 12, 2021 4:38 pm
“We’ve not ever had eight people die in two months, ever. And I’ve been the director here for five years,” says Tara Johnson, the director of the Devereux Center in Coos Bay, which runs a warming center and provides services like laundry and helps homeless people replace personal documents.
Johnson says around seven unhoused people die on average in the county each year. The sharp increase, which was first reported by the Coos Bay World, is worrying to local law enforcement as well.
“It’s clearly concerning,” says Coos Bay Police Captain Mike Shaffer. There’s been no evidence of foul play in the deaths, according to Shaffer. He says at least two of the deaths occurred by suicide and four more were related to alcohol use and cold weather this winter.
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