2 arrested after deadly officer-involved shooting in SE Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Following a deadly officer-involved shooting in Portland’s Hazelwood Neighborhood Monday night, police said they’ve made two arrests at the scene where this all happened.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, the suspect in an alleged armed robbery initiated gunfire at police, who then returned fire. The suspect was shot by police and died, but his identity hasn’t been released.
In addition, two other people were arrested at the scene: 21-year-old Paige E. Smouse and 22-year-old Kristian M. Nelson-Trout. Smouse is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery and hindering prosecution. Nelson-Trout was arrested for violating parole. Both were lodged at the Multnomah County Detention Center.
Police said officers were serving a search warrant at a home on Southeast 124th Avenue and East Burnside Street in the early evening when the shots were fired. This was in connection to an alleged robbery that happened earlier that day, just after 9 a.m. Monday at a business in the 11100 block of Northeast Halsey Street.
KOIN 6 News spoke with a neighbor who lives just around the corner from where the shooting happened. She said the situation was terrifying and that the home in question was well known to police. PPB declined to confirm this detail as the initial investigation is still ongoing.
"They started yelling through the bullhorn, 'Everybody in the building come out with your hands up, we're going to use chemical weapons and then we're going to start using gunfire,'” said Dana Phillips, a neighbor who witnessed the ordeal. “I was like, 'No we're going around we could be shot.'”
Phillips said she and her son almost walked in on the action on their way home Monday night, saying she watched the Special Emergency Reaction Team with guns drawn trying to serve a warrant at the home in the 100 block of Southeast 124th Avenue.
“I was in the middle of dinner when I heard gunshots going off," Phillips said.
Around 6:30 p.m., police said a man at the home pointed a gun at officers and began shooting, prompting police to return fire. They struck the suspect who died minutes later, despite life-saving efforts.
“It's always a tragedy when we lose a life," said PPB Chief Bob Day.
Officials said none of the involved officers were hurt and all four of them are now on paid administrative leave, per standard protocol.
Day said PPB is committed to a transparent process for this officer-involved shooting.
The case is still active and police said they are currently looking into whether the alleged armed robbery is connected to any other similar crimes in the area, a standard procedure for this type of investigation.