PORTLAND, Ore. — A man who fired shots inside an apartment in Northeast Portland's Cully neighborhood has been taken into custody, police announced at 12:40 p.m. Friday. Neighbors were previously evacuated or asked to shelter in place while police worked to get the man to exit the building.
Officers responded at 9:39 a.m. to the residence, located in the area of Northeast Cully Boulevard between Skidmore Street and Mason Street. They determined a man was alone inside an apartment and had fired the shots. He refused to come out when police arrived, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said in a news release Friday afternoon, and also began throwing household objects and small furniture out of the windows.
Police also learned that a next-door neighbor was almost struck by a bullet that came through the wall but was uninjured. Police began asking neighbors to shelter in place indoors, and some neighbors near the apartment were evacuated. Northeast Cully Boulevard was closed between Mason Street and Prescott Street.
PPB deployed the Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) to the scene and worked to surround the apartment. While doing so, they saw the man through the window with guns in his hand. He also threw what appeared to be additional guns out the window.
Officers attempted to engage in dialogue with the man, but he continued to refuse to come out and at one point pointed a gun out the window, PPB said. At about 12:23 p.m., the officers saw fire inside the apartment, according to the news release. Not all of the nearby units had been confirmed clear, so at that point, police used irritant gas and prepared to breach the apartment.
The man came out on his own after the gas was deployed and was taken into custody. No injuries were reported. Police said at 12:40 p.m. that the SERT and CNT teams were demobilizing.
The man, identified as 29-year-old David B. Peer III, was taken into custody, then booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. Peer was charged with arson in the first degree, unlawful use of a weapon, discharging a firearm in the city (city code) and recklessly endangering another person.
Police stated Friday evening that officers seized two rifles, three handguns and one airsoft rifle.
Portland Fire & Rescue tweeted at 12:30 p.m. that crews were at the scene of an apartment fire in the Cully neighborhood and that "fire origin was related to a suspect who is now in PPB custody." PF&R told KGW it already had SERT medics on the scene who began to fight the fire themselves and called for a full fire crew to assist.
The fire was on the second floor of the townhouse apartment complex, PF&R said, and there were initial concerns that it may have spread into the attic, but after knocking down the fire in the living area, the crews took down part of the ceiling to check the attic and found no further fire.
PF&R also stated that crews "found a rifle in the involved apartment" and were working to get the weapon to police. Animal control was also called for a dog found in the apartment, who is "doing well." No injuries were reported.
