PORTLAND, Ore. — Police shot and killed a man who was allegedly making threats at an apartment building early Friday morning in Southeast Portland. The man was armed with a knife and a pellet air rifle, Portland police said.
Around 12:33 a.m. on Friday, officers responded to a report of a man who was possibly armed with a rifle and was "yelling and making threats" to neighbors in an apartment building near Southeast Lambert Street and Southeast Flavel Drive. The officers saw the man with what appeared to be a rifle, but was later determined to be a pellet air rifle, according to Portland police. They set up a perimeter in the area and asked nearby residents to stay inside.
An officer with the Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team responded and spoke to the man. Portland police said officers tried to deescalate this situation for about half an hour. An officer fired a shot at 1:22 a.m., and then a team of officers moved in and found the man injured, Portland police said. Emergency responders tried to provide first aid, but the man died soon after.
The man has not yet been identified and his official cause of death has not been released. Police found a 0.22 caliber pellet air rifle and a knife near him.
The officer who shot the man has not yet been identified and is on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol.
Southeast Lambert is closed from Flavel Drive to 57th Avenue.
"Events like tonight, here on this street corner but throughout the city, are challenging all of us at a time where I think all of us as a community we are striving to come together to mitigate some of these harms," Portland Police Chief Bob Day said.
The Portland Police Bureau will conduct an internal review of the deadly police shooting. The case will go before the Police Review Board, which is made up of members of the bureau, the community and representatives from the Independent Police Review Division.
Anyone with information who hasn't spoke to police is asked to contact Detective Jeff Sharp at Jeff.Sharp@police.portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-9773, or Detective Tony Harris at Tony.Harris@police.portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0441 and reference case number 24-253949.
This is a developing story and it may be updated when more information becomes available.