Background: News footage from the scene in Portland, Ore., where Joshua Kelvin was killed on June 6, 2024 (KATU). Inset: Joshua Kelvin (Portland Police Bureau).
A chilling incident has resurfaced in Oregon, as an 18-year-old is now in custody, charged with the tragic shooting of an Uber driver. This arrest comes close to two years after the fateful day when a rideshare trip turned deadly.
The suspect, who was just 16 at the time of the alleged crime, is accused of opening fire on June 4, 2024, targeting the vehicle’s teenage passengers. Unfortunately, the gunfire claimed the life of the 42-year-old Uber driver, Joshua Kelvin, and left one of his two young passengers wounded. As reported by Oregon prosecutors, the suspect’s intended targets were the teens inside the vehicle, not the driver. One of the passengers managed to escape the chaos by fleeing on foot, but Kelvin was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.
In a recent courtroom appearance, as chronicled by The Oregonian, the suspect faced a slew of charges, including second-degree murder and attempted murder. Given his age at the time of the incident, the case is being handled in a juvenile court. The courtroom heard Deputy District Attorney Devin Franklin describe the incident as a premeditated “ambush” aimed at the two teenage passengers, aged 17 and 18, who were being transported by Kelvin. The gunfire directed at them was reportedly relentless, with the suspect firing up to 18 shots, as per local ABC affiliate KATU.
The harrowing details continue as the younger passenger endured seven or eight gunshot wounds, resulting in serious injuries. Meanwhile, the older teenager managed to escape on foot. In a grim twist, Franklin noted that the same firearm was allegedly involved in another shooting of the older teenager later that month, although he stopped short of directly accusing the suspect of this subsequent attack. However, Franklin did reveal that the suspect allegedly used the same weapon in a separate incident in January 2025, injuring another person.
The younger passenger was shot seven or eight times and sustained serious injuries. The older teenager ran from the scene on foot. Franklin said that teenager was shot later the same month with the same gun that was used by the suspect. He did not explicitly accuse the suspect of being involved in the latter shooting, but Franklin did tell the court that the suspect allegedly used the gun to injure another person in January 2025.
Franklin said the injured teenager continues to deal with the injuries he sustained almost two years after the alleged shooting.
KATU reported that the suspect was not in custody when he arrived at court, but a judge ordered him to be taken into custody following the hearing on Tuesday.
The suspect was charged with second-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, first- and second-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and attempt to commit a Class A felony. His next court date was not available.
