Portland Officer Fires Weapon Responding To Incident In Sellwood

By Bradley W. Parks (OPB)
Portland, Ore. June 29, 2020 1:50 a.m.

UPDATE (June 30, 12:35 p.m. PT) — A Portland police officer fired their weapon responding to what police believed was an armed person inside a vacant residence in the Sellwood neighborhood Sunday afternoon. No one was injured.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell, right, was among those responding to a person believed to be armed inside a vacant home in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Ore., Sunday, June 28, 2020. One officer fired their weapon and the subject was not injured.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell, right, was among those responding to a person believed to be armed inside a vacant home in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Ore., Sunday, June 28, 2020. One officer fired their weapon and the subject was not injured.

Bradley W. Parks / OPB

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The Portland Police Bureau identified the officer as Laurent Bonczijk, who has spent seven years with the bureau.

Police responded to a "premise check" at a cluster of unoccupied, newly constructed condos adjacent to Sellwood Pool shortly before 2:30 p.m., said Portland police Lt. Tina Jones.

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"Officers were checking this premises and they encountered a subject," Jones said, "and during that encounter, one officer discharged their firearm."

People at Sellwood Park said they heard what sounded like gunfire.

The officer then retreated, Jones said, and called for additional resources. The Portland Police Bureau sent dozens of officers — including the Special Emergency Reaction Team, Crisis Negotiation Team and Chief Chuck Lovell — to the home and ordered nearby residents to shelter in place.

Police respond to a person believed to be armed barricaded inside a home in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Ore., Sunday, June 28, 2020.

Police respond to a person believed to be armed barricaded inside a home in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Ore., Sunday, June 28, 2020.

Bradley W. Parks / OPB

Jones said police then deployed a robot to make contact with the subject and eventually took him into custody around 5:30 p.m.

Police did not confirm whether the person taken into custody was armed at all.

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