The man shot and seriously wounded by a U.S. marshal on Monday in Portland was identified Tuesday as Roman Culver, 23, of Covington, Washington.
According to a U.S. Marshals Service statement, Culver was wanted in King County, Washington, for first-degree robbery with a firearm and by the Washington Department of Corrections for escaping custody. The statement also said Culver was wanted by police for a drive-by shooting and an alleged carjacking, and that he was a person of interest in a homicide.
The Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force attempted to arrest Culver while he was parked in a car with three other people in Southeast Portland on Monday afternoon. Culver, according to law enforcement, rammed his car into a police vehicle and tried to drive away. A deputy marshal said he was in the car’s path and fired one round at Culver, hitting him in the neck.
In a statement Monday, the Portland Police Bureau said Central Precinct officers responded to a call involving gunfire. No Portland police officers were involved in the shooting, according to PPB.
Culver was seriously injured and remains hospitalized, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
A second person in the car was also injured. He was taken to a hospital and later released to the Portland Police Bureau.
The Marshals’ Violent Offender Task Force works with local, state and federal law enforcement to locate and arrest fugitives. According to the Marshals, the group arrested 732 people in 2021. Tuesday’s shooting is not the first time the task force has shot someone in the region.
“This job has become increasingly difficult and dangerous as we have seen an increase in violent crime and gun violence, and a general lack of accountability for these crimes,” said Pete Cajigal, Oregon’s acting U.S. Marshal.
Portland has seen a record number of homicides and shootings in the past year, and gun violence cases have strained police and prosecutors’ ability to respond.
Like the police bureau, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office is short staffed. In March, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden said the office had lost 12 people in the past year, a combined 150 years of experience. Snowden said the public defense attorney shortage and overwhelmed prosecutors has put the criminal justice system in crisis.
