James Arthur Bradley was 29 when he was shot on a downtown Portland sidewalk in the early morning hours of February 20, 1982. Around 3:00 a.m., while walking near SW Park and Salmon Street, he was approached by an unidentified male who opened fire. Bradley was taken to a nearby hospital and died later that day.

Born and raised in East Chicago, Indiana, Bradley had been a standout basketball player at Roosevelt High School, starred at Northern Illinois University, and played professionally with the Kentucky Colonels, Denver Nuggets and in the Continental Basketball Association. In Portland he was described as an aspiring professional basketball figure. Witnesses saw him that night at the Copper Penny II, and investigators later noted reports of associations with known drug dealers, which complicated inquiries and suggested possible motives.

The crucial question of who walked up and pulled the trigger remains unanswered. Leads have come and gone and the file is now with the Portland Police Bureau’s Cold Case Homicide Unit; no arrests have been announced and the suspect has never been publicly identified. If anyone remembers James Bradley that night or has information about his movements or associates, please come forward.