Portland police officers closed off the area around a Motel 6 on Holladay Street in Northeast Portland on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
Jonathan Levinson
Portland police shot and killed a man in Northeast Portland on Thursday night.
Officers were called to a welfare check just after 7 p.m. near Northeast Holladay Street and Grand Avenue, police said.
Police said the shooting happened soon after officers and paramedics arrived at the scene. By Friday morning, police still had not said what led up to the shooting.
The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he later died, police said. No officers were hurt.
A witness to the shooting said an officer had shot a man who was carrying a weapon.
The witness to the shooting, Kalli Temple, said she heard people screaming at each other before police arrived.
“EMS was taking a white, heavy set gentleman on a gurney,” Temple said. “He was stabbed on the right hand side.”
Temple said a second man had a what she described as a knife, and police attempted to take the weapon from him.
“The white guy that was with the knife, the police tried to get the knife away from him,” she said. “And the white guy pulled his arm away from the police officer and he ran.”
Portland police officers cordon off an area around a police shooting in Northeast Portland on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
Jonathan Levinson
Temple said an officer shot the man, who was still carrying the weapon, twice as he ran.
Portland police declined repeated requests to answer questions about the incident Thursday. But in a tweet, officers said they could “confirm that the subject involved is an adult white male” and that “no one else was injured.” Police said they are in the early stages of an investigation and could not release more information.
Protesters began gathering at the scene shortly after word of the shooting began to spread on social media. The demonstrators shouted at police on scene, and shortly before 11 p.m., officers used pepper spray and at least one impact munition to drive the crowd back from the area, according to OPB staff and videos posted online.
Police said at least one patrol car was damaged in the protest. No arrests were reported.
The police killing is the second fatal shooting involving the Portland Police Bureau this year. An officer shot and killed Robert Delgado in Lents Park on April 16 while Delgado appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.