PORTLAND, Ore. — Police are searching for a suspect accused of shooting and killing a woman in Southeast Portland on Tuesday morning.
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said Tuesday evening that though the shelter-in-place warning has been lifted for area residents, the suspect has not been found.
On Tuesday afternoon, police said that the shooting will be a homicide investigation, as the woman shot later died of her injuries. Police did a block-by-block search and were focused on searching a specific house.
The shooting happened around 8:37 a.m. in the area of Southeast 136th Avenue and Southeast Knight Street. Police officers found a woman suffering from gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital with what was then believed to be life-threatening injuries, according to Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mike Benner.
Portland police believed that the suspect may still have been in the area and may have been armed. They blocked off a perimeter as they searched for the suspect. A shelter-in-place order was issued to residents in the immediate area. The East Metro SWAT team, comprised of Multnomah County Sheriff's Office personnel and Gresham police, was conducting a block-by-block search of the area, Benner said. Law enforcement agencies were also using drones.
Two nearby schools were in what's described as a "secure perimeter" where students and staff can move inside the buildings, but no one can come in and out, according to Benner.
"We're taking every precaution that we can, at this point, to lock down the area where we believe this individual might be in," Benner said.
PPB’s Homicide Unit has responded to the scene to investigate. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Michael Schmerber at Michael.Schmerber@police.portlandoregon.gov 503-823-0991 or Detective Jeff Sharp at Jeff.Sharp@police.portlandoregon.gov 503-823-9773 and reference case number 24-237787.
This is a developing story, and it will be updated when more information becomes available.