Portland Police Killed Someone During an Armed Robbery Investigation Thursday Morning

Portland police killed someone they call and armed robbery suspect in Northeast Portland this morning Dirk VanderHart

A Portland police officer shot and killed someone in Northeast Portland during an armed robbery investigation Thursday morning.

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) was searching for the suspect of an armed robbery reported at the Portland Value Inn, the bureau said in a news release. The dead person, whom the PPB is identifying as the suspect, was killed by the police one block away near the NE Hancock and NE 82nd intersection.

Very little is known as of now, but Mercury news editor Dirk VanderHart is at the scene. We will update this post as new information comes in.

Update, 12:22 pm:

According to PPB Sgt. Pete Simpson, police first fielded a call about an armed robbery at 7:24 am, when a person who'd been living in their car near the Value Inn reported a black male had held them up at gunpoint roughly a half-hour earlier.

As police were investigating that, a call came in from a nearby Banfield Pet Hospital reporting a car prowler.

Cops began searching the neighborhood, and found a home they believed someone had tried to break into, Simpson said. They sent in a police dog with a camera attached to it, and were able to determine no one was in the house. (I did not know this was a thing, but at my wonderment Simpson brushed me off with a, "Dogs always have cameras.")

Update, Feb 10, 4:40 pm: Simpson says he was misinformed. The dog never went into the house—cops had merely considered sending it in. Also, Simpson now notes: "The dogs can wear cameras for building searches; they don’t wear them all the time."

Original post:

A bit later, at about 9:21 am, "officers encountered that suspect again," Simpson says. "During that encounter officers fired shots that struck and killed the suspect... There is a handgun that has been found at the scene that we believe is connected to the suspect."

Simpson couldn't say how many shots were fired, and he declined to identify the officer who shot the man (that will be released later). He also didn't know whether the officer was alone at the time he killed the man. And police are still working to identify the deceased, who Simpson says is African-American.

The incident marks the first fatal officer-involved shooting of Mayor Ted Wheeler's time in office. Wheeler didn't visit the scene—something former Mayor Charlie Hales frequently made a point of for officer-involved shootings—but did send his chief of staff, Maurice Henderson. According to the mayor's office, Wheeler also spoke by phone to Police Chief Mike Marshman.

Cops have asked for a TriMet bus. Driver isn't sure why? pic.twitter.com/KOywAdNzAx

— Dirk VanderHart (@dirquez) February 9, 2017

First officer involved shooting of @tedwheeler's tenure.

— Dirk VanderHart (@dirquez) February 9, 2017

@dirquez "it's just cold, and there are a lot of people here," officer says re: bus.

— Dirk VanderHart (@dirquez) February 9, 2017

We've now got a bus and 2 mobile command centers on scene. No one I've asked has seen @tedwheeler out here. pic.twitter.com/MLnKsJE8dS

— Dirk VanderHart (@dirquez) February 9, 2017

Entirely possible this bus is here just to block off shooting scene. pic.twitter.com/KToCN43SZb

— Dirk VanderHart (@dirquez) February 9, 2017