The Portland Police Department is investigating after an officer-involved shooting and death of white man at a local park on Friday morning:
Portland police shot a person at Lents Park in Southeast Portland just after 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Police confirmed that the victim, a white man who has not been identified, died at the scene. https://t.co/eNt45tYVbc
— OPB (@OPB) April 16, 2021
Although The Oregonian ran into a little problem reporting on the incident and was forced to delete a “poorly worded” tweet on what went down:
We included information in an earlier tweet about why we identified the victim’s race that was poorly worded. It was not intended to minimize what happened, only to provide context. We generally do not identify race in news stories but often do when reporting police shootings.
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) April 16, 2021
Here’s a screenshot where the newspaper had said they included the man’s race “in light of social unrest prompted by police shootings of Black people”:
The Oregonian reassures Portland that there’s no need to riot, as the man killed by police was white.
Journalism…ish pic.twitter.com/nwzzKyfMeh
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) April 16, 2021
So there should only be protests if police wrongfully shoot a Black man? What?
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) April 16, 2021
As for the incident, the police claim they were called to the park to investigate a report of a “white male pointing a gun”:
Deputy Chief Chris Davis said officers got dispatched to Lents Park around 9:30 this AM due to “a white male pointing a gun at the park… Officers responded… At some point during this interaction, less lethal and lethal force were used.” The man died. pic.twitter.com/IXwUmXB2UN
— Wright Gazaway (@WrightKATU) April 16, 2021
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There are multiple witnesses (this probably should read, “. . .he saw the guy *allegedly* w/a gun”:
Just spoke to man who says he saw shooting. He shared video showing moment officer fired. The witness said he saw the guy w/ a gun before police got there but did not see it on him when officer shot. Witness says police fired when man bent down behind tree into his stuff. pic.twitter.com/lbAX9QumKh
— Wright Gazaway (@WrightKATU) April 16, 2021
The next tweet cleared things up where he said he did not see a gun but he did see the man “bend down to pick something up”:
Witness: "[Victim] was shirtless. He didn’t have nothing tucked in around his waist. I saw him bend down to pick something up, but I couldn’t see what he picked up, if he did have a chance to pick anything up, because as soon as he did that, the cop shot him twice." pic.twitter.com/LYDFdSu0kc
— Wright Gazaway (@WrightKATU) April 16, 2021
This witness captured the shooting on video:
WARNING, this may be graphic for some: Here is the portion of the video where the shots are fired (around 9-10 seconds in.) It appears that the female officer holding the less lethal beanbag launcher is surprised at the gunfire. She jumps back. #Portland pic.twitter.com/2fIAYj1Dos
— Wright Gazaway (@WrightKATU) April 16, 2021
A second witness claimed the man who was shot did not have a gun:
Witness account of the @PortlandPolice killing of an unarmed man at Lents Park today.
PPB and MSM are actively lying about the man having been armed. pic.twitter.com/aTOyRjdiRa
— Halospace (@HalospaceMedia) April 16, 2021
The investigation is ongoing, but police officers were attacked by the mob:
PPB Officers continue to provide crowd management support at the scene at Lent’s Park. Other calls for service are being impacted. pic.twitter.com/r7MXkkAtPx
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) April 16, 2021
From the Portland PD:
Portland Police have completed the on-scene investigation at Lents Park and have cleared the scene. During the time that investigators were doing their work, law enforcement countywide responded to assist with crowd control. The hostile crowd estimated to be over 100 people tore down crime-scene police tape and encroached on the work area. A line of officers had to create a blockade on multiple sides of the scene to keep the crowd back. Officers were hit with sticks and full water bottles were thrown at them. A group of people grabbed an officer’s baton and tried to pull it away. Officers deployed OC (pepper) spray to stop the criminal behavior. At least one police vehicle’s tires were flattened. As officers began to disengage from the scene, hostile individuals chased them, throwing things at them. Officers deployed inert smoke canisters in an attempt to help them leave, but individuals continued after them. A Rubber Ball Distraction Device was used to allow the officers to safely disengage. No officers were injured. There were some false claims online that tear gas was used, but that was untrue. Officers did not deploy chemical munitions. No arrests were made.
The investigation into the officer involved shooting is continuing, and more information will be released when appropriate.
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