Uber driver shot in Portland says 30 to 40 rounds were fired

By Adrian Thomas

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Josiah Kuehl says it was any ordinary night of driving Uber in Portland in the late hours of July 19 when out of nowhere, someone gunned down his passenger. Kuehl was seriously injured, suffering several gunshot wounds in one arm that required emergency surgery, and one bullet grazing the other.

Kuehl is sharing his story in the hopes that it will lead police to a suspect or suspects.

Portland police say just before midnight last Tuesday they were called to the 1600 block of North Terry to reports of shots fired. Doorbell security camera footage captured some of the shooting that injured Kuehl and took the life of his Uber passenger, 25-year-old Zamere Bently. Kuehl says he made the 911 call as he tried to get away after he was shot.

Recounting with FOX 12 what happened that night, Kuehl says he believes the person who fired at his car was waiting for Zamere Bently as Kuehl was dropping him off. Kuehl says he was not being followed during the Uber trip.

Kuehl says a black car with LED headlights and tinted windows pulled up alongside him out of nowhere at McClellan and Fenwick in North Portland as his passenger was getting out of the car, and that’s when the shooting began.

“I was there for about a minute or two and think 30 to 40 rounds went over my head,” said Kuehl “Then I got shot in the arm, he (Bently) hopped back in, my passenger, and he told me to drive. I heard him get hit again, I didn’t hear him after that, all I heard was him gargle on some blood and he was gone after that.”

Kuehl and his wife, Ashley Kuehl, are shaken but grateful Kuehl escaped with his life.

“It’s something I’m kind of battling with coming to grips, that I honestly could’ve lost him that night, and where we would have been if he hadn’t been okay,” said Ashely.

The Kuehls give their deepest condolences to Zamere Benlty’s family, and are pleading for anyone with information on the shooting to come forward.

Kuehl says he drives Uber in addition to a job loading and unloading freight trains and ships, all to support his family. Kuehl has an 8-month-old child with his wife, and two young stepchildren.

Kuehl also says doctors haven’t provided a timeline on his recovery. He says he has insurance through Uber, and that he is working with the company to get compensation while he recovers.

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