U.S. Marshals shot and injured two people in Portland Monday during an attempt to apprehend a wanted person from Washington, according to a statement released by the Portland Police Bureau.
The police bureau was notified Monday morning the that Marshals Fugitive Task Force would be operating in inner east Portland. At 2:22 p.m., Central Precinct officers responded to a call that shots had been fired.
Two men sustained injuries, one seriously, according to the police bureau’s statement. No Portland police officers were involved in the shooting. The police statement did not specify how many marshals were involved.
Acting U.S. Marshal for Oregon Pete Cajigal told OPB that members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force were trying to take someone into custody when marshals fired at least one shot.
The task force is comprised of federal and local law enforcement officers working to arrest fugitives.
Monday was not the first time in recent years that federal officers working in the Northwest have injured or killed people they were seeking.
A violent offender task force in Washington was involved in the Sept. 30, 2020, killing of Michael Reinoehl, the anti-fascist who was wanted in the shooting and killing of Aaron “Jay” Danielson after a pro-Trump caravan in downtown Portland a month earlier.
On Dec. 8, 2020, a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force shot and killed Jonathan Crowley, 31, in North Portland after he had absconded from correctional supervision with Multnomah County’s probations office.
And in August 2021, Portland police officers responded to a Drug Enforcement Agency request for assistance which resulted in two Portland officers shooting and killing Alexander Tadros, 30, who federal prosecutors allege was part of a large scale drug operation.