PORTLAND, Ore. — On the morning of Saturday, July 22, a suspect allegedly killed a security officer and injured a hospital employee in a shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Northwest Portland, according to the Portland Police Bureau (PPB).
A few hours after leaving the medical center, police in Gresham stopped the suspect. During the stop, there was a standoff and officers opened fire, shooting and killing the suspect. No officers were injured.
Gresham police later confirmed the suspect's identity as PoniaX Kane Calles, previously known as Reginald Kane Jackson, and The Oregonian reported that he had threatened hospital staff in the days before the shooting. A friend of Calles told KGW that he agreed to give the man a ride to Gresham on July 22, not realizing he was a shooting suspect until police caught up with them.
The injured security guard was transferred to a trauma center where he later died from his injures. Legacy Health identified the security officer as Bobby Smallwood. He was 44 years old.
The timeline that follows was constructed using information gathered by KGW reporters as well as information provided by Portland police.
Sequence of events
10:55 a.m. - 911 dispatchers receive a threat call saying the suspect is making "physical threats to staff" at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Northwest Portland.
10:59 a.m. - Two Portland Police Bureau officers and a sergeant are dispatched to the medical center. Officers are aware that hospital security is with the suspect who was making "physical threats to staff." A partial description of the suspect is provided by security.
11:04 a.m. - First responding officers arrive at the medical center.
11:10 a.m. - A hospital security officer is "down," according to dispatch broadcasts.
11:11 a.m. - Officers seek resources to lock down all entrances and exits.
11:13 a.m. - Officers gain a description of the suspect.
11:16 a.m. - PPB sergeant requests citywide police response.
11:17 a.m. - Officers head towards location on the fifth floor near the birthing center of the medical center where the hospital security officer is "down." Noted as a shooting scene, PPB later reports that officers "are not hearing or seeing indicators of an active shooter/active threat incident."
11:18 a.m. - Portland police's Special Emergency Reaction Team and Crisis Negotiation Team are activated.
11:20 a.m. - The victim, the hospital security guard, receives emergency medical care.
11:23 a.m. - Dispatch broadcasts a shots-fired call and cites information received from people inside the hospital. Dispatch also receives details that the suspect was spotted leaving the hospital on a "moped," headed southbound on Northwest 21st Avenue.
11:26 a.m. - Hospital security reviews security footage that shows the suspect leave the hospital eight minutes prior to what was reported. Footage confirms the suspect left around 11:18 a.m.
11:29 a.m. - Police said they responded to the Stadium Fred Meyer at the corner of Northwest 20th Avenue near Providence Park after a tip that the suspect might have gone inside.
11:31 a.m. - Police resources shift towards the Stadium Fred Meyer and evacuate the store.
11:35 a.m. - Officers finish reviewing hospital security footage and are able to get an updated description of the suspect, including his clothes. Images from the footage are shared with all PPB members.
11:41 a.m. - A PPB public information officer sends a news release alerting the community of the shooting, tactical teams response and hospital lockdown. The release also states that the suspect left the hospital and PPB has shut down Northwest 23rd Avenue, Northwest 21st Avenue, and Northwest Northrup to Northwest Lovejoy Street. The release is also posted to police social media channels.
11:45 a.m. - PPB members start investigating possible locations the suspect may be headed towards.
11:53 a.m. - Media staging location is set.
12:09 p.m. - The hospital security guard, identified as Bobby Smallwood, 44, died due to his injuries. PPB Homicide Detectives are called to respond.
12:13 p.m. - Friends and family members of hospital staff and patients arrive in area near hospital for reunification at Northwest 22nd Avenue and Northwest Northrup Street.
12:29 p.m. - Officers review security footage from Fred Meyers that confirms the suspect has not been caught and never entered the store.
A Portland police sergeant drives by a few of the possible locations the suspect might have fled to based on his previous police contacts. When the sergeant arrives at one location near Northeast 138th Avenue and Northeast Sandy Boulevard, the sergeant spots a person matching the suspect's picture and description hiding in some bushes. The sergeant requests backup since the suspect may have been potentially armed.
The sergeant witnesses the suspect get into the passenger side of Jay Freedman's old medical transport van and the van drives off. Freedman told KGW exclusively that he'd met the suspect a few years ago on the streets when they were both homeless. The suspect offered him $20 for gas in exchanged for driving him to his father's house. Freedman said he was completely unaware that the police were actively searching for the suspect at the time. But as the pair made their way out toward Gresham, he started realizing that something was off.
Freedman said they got to the suspect's dad's house off of 122nd Avenue and Sandy, but his dad wasn't home. Freedman said he noticed that the sergeant was following him and thought that it was due to a problem with his van, so he turned onto 181st Avenue and Glisan, preparing to pull over for what he thought would be a traffic stop. By the time the Portland police car turned on its lights, at least one Gresham police vehicle had started following as well.
The sergeant followed Freedman's van and provided updates to supporting police until the van stops outside a U.S. Bank parking lot in Gresham on Northeast 181st Avenue.
Freedman said he pulled over and turned off the car, and the officers asked him to get out. He said he told the suspect to comply with the police, but he didn't listen.
Officers handcuffed Freedman and put him in the back of the patrol car, but didn't tell him what the suspect had allegedly done. The suspect refused to leave the van, and Freedman said he watched from the back of the patrol car as more police continued to arrive, including a SWAT team. He said he didn't see the point where the suspect got out of the van, or when police shot and killed him.
During the stop, the suspect was shot and killed after officers opened fire. No officers were injured.
On Aug. 7, Portland police identified the three officers involved in the fatal shooting of the suspect as Justin Thurman, a 16-year veteran, Timothy Hoerauf, a 12-year veteran and Seth Wingfield, a seven-year veteran. The officers remain on administrative leave, per department policy.
Gresham police later confirmed the suspect's identity as PoniaX Kane Calles, previously known as Reginald Kane Jackson, and The Oregonian reported that he had threatened hospital staff in the days before the shooting.
Court documents obtained by KGW reveal that Calles had a history of mental illness and violent behavior.
The suspect, Reginald Kane Jackson, changed his name in 2019 to PoniaX Kane Calles. According to court documents obtained by KGW, Ashley Heil has three children with Calles: two young daughters, ages eight and one, and a newborn son whom she gave birth to last week at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. She was still in the hospital two days later when Calles allegedly shot and killed the hospital security guard, Bobby Smallwood.