Portland City Council, public in the dark about police shooting, even 17 hours later

Seventeen hours after Portland police were dispatched to a Lloyd District Motel 6 where an officer shot and killed a man, little is known about the circumstances leading up to the killing — even for people who sit on the Portland City Council.

The lack of communication and transparency from the bureau, unusual even by its normally tight-lipped standard around shootings, has allowed misinformation to fester online. The Portland Police Bureau has asked for time to allow its investigators to work, even as public grievance over a lack of information has grown.

At 12:40 a.m., nearly six hours after the officer shot and killed someone, the bureau released its first notable piece of information about the shooting at the Motel 6 on Northeast Holladay Street, though details remained sparse beyond officers arriving for a welfare check.

“After officers arrived with paramedics, they encountered a man matching that description and an officer involved shooting took place,” the early morning press release reads.

As of Friday morning, four city commissioners said the bureau had not shared any details with them.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who is the city’s police commissioner, had reportedly been briefed by Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell. Still, Wheeler spokesperson Tim Becker said the mayor only received sparse information so far.

“With the investigation ongoing, we know few facts at this time and look forward to learning more during a briefing later today,” Becker said. Wheeler is scheduled to be further briefed on the shooting Friday afternoon.

The lack of clear information about the shooting almost immediately led to misinformation Thursday.

Minutes after the shooting, a flyer was disseminated among protesters alleging Portland police had shot and killed a Black man.

That was incorrect. The deceased person was white.

That incorrect information led to a brief reply from the police bureau, detailing that the person who was shot was white and had been taken to a hospital. By then, a crowd of protesters had already gathered around the crime scene and was confronting police.

Police did not release information to journalists Thursday evening, despite designating a “media staging area” a block away from the killing.

In the four hours journalists were on scene, an officer gave a “briefing” to two members of the press that consisted of being told police had responded to a dispatch call at 7:06 p.m. and that no more information was available.

At the same time, witness accounts were spreading in the media and online. One woman said she saw the shooting from her apartment across the street. She said she saw a man on a gurney who had a large stab wound on his side. When police attempted to take a knife from a second man, she said, he pulled his hand away and ran off, knife in hand. Then an officer shot him in the back, according to the witness.

Emails from OPB to the bureau spokesperson seeking to clarify if anyone else had been involved with the incident beyond the person who died went unanswered.

Meanwhile, detailed information contradicting witness accounts, and seeming to come from inside the bureau, was reported by the Oregonian/OregonLive. Again, attempts to corroborate the contradictory information were ignored and remain unverified by any other media outlet.

Information leaks from inside the bureau have become more common as tensions between the city and police have increased. In March, false information alleging Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty had been involved in a hit-and-run was leaked from inside the bureau and published by local media. It took hours for the bureau to confirm the story was incorrect.

Thursday night, Police Chief Chuck Lovell, standing with his back toward a media staging area 100 feet away, recorded a statement from the scene and published it on Twitter.

“Preliminary information suggests our officer encountered a very difficult and dynamic situation that no officer wants to face,” Lovell said, before thanking Portland police officers and committing the bureau to a thorough investigation.

Following deadly use-of-force incidents, the police bureau conducts an internal investigation and the Multnomah County District Attorney opens a criminal investigation.

Bureau directives require that an officer give a statement within 48 hours of killing someone while on duty. Because the statement is required, it cannot be used in a criminal case.

Portland police have said they plan to name the victim as well as the officer who shot him at some point Friday.

The officer is on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.