INCLUDES EXTENSIVE VIDEO | 12 EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS | It was the U. S. Marshall’s Fugitive Task Force efforts to arrest a subject that led to this long standoff, which shut down blocks of SE 72nd Avenue for hours …
The first of the more than 30 Portland Police Bureau officers to be geared up start walking north along SE Sherrett Street from 70th Avenue, to aid the U.S. Marshal’s Service Fugitive Task Force agents who were trying to arrest an armed and wanted man.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The otherwise peaceful autumnal Wednesday of October 15th in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood was altered in the late afternoon, when roads in the area of SE 72nd Avenue and Sherrett Street were closed down by law enforcement officers – who arrived a bit after 4 p.m. to assist U.S. Marshal’s Service Fugitive Task Force officers. It was a shock to – and residents trying to get home.
Members of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) were also called in to help.
This CCSO deputy and his sergeant are about to be verbally accosted by an irate woman.
At one of the shut-off intersections along Clatsop Street, a middle-aged Caucasian woman walked up to a CCSO Sergeant, loudly and angrily proclaiming, “I won’t stand for ICE Agents in my neighborhood”. The Sergeant calmly informed her they were mere blocking off streets while the U.S. Marshal’s Service officers were serving an arrest warrant on a likely-armed fugitive; ICE was not involved.
Further north, along SE 72nd Avenue, more PPB Special Emergency Reaction Team officers move into place, just two houses away from where the reportedly-armed fugitive is holed up.
At an impromptu press conference, PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Kevin Allen fills reporters in on the incident.
“This suspect is believed to be in a garage in the 7100 block of SE Sherrett Street,” PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Kevin Allen confirmed. “The PPB Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) responding to this incident have it surrounded, containing the suspect.”
Now watch as officers arrive and stand by, while PPB Crisis Negotiation Team members try to coax the suspect out peacefully:
As the afternoon faded into sunset, SERT and CNT teams occasionally loud-hailed from a police vehicle’s P.A. system calling on the subject, by name, to surrender.
Two drones kept watchful positions high over the back yard, as some SERT officers trained weapons on the hideout.
This U. S. Marshal’s Service Fugitive Task Force member arrives at the scene.
Atop a SERT armored vehicle, in the turret, an officer keeps watch over the back yard.
In front of the garage, in the turret of another SERT armored vehicle, another officer watches and waits.
“When [SERT and CNT] got there, they initially reported that the suspect was in a garage; and, that the suspect had pulled out what appeared to be a handgun,” later reported Sergeant Allen. “We don’t want to rush it; we use time to de-escalate tense situations like this.”
As the sun sets, all of the law enforcement officers assigned to this incident remain in their positions.
Minutes turned into hours for the neighbors parked and waiting to go home, along SE Sherrett Street, north of the exclusion zone. “They told me to go somewhere and have dinner, which I did, but I see they’re still there,” a woman commented to us. “I’m okay; but I am concerned about my dog, who’s been locked up all day.”
After a smaller “scout” robot transmits back pictures and then retreats, this larger robot, with a projectile-firing arm, rolls out towards the suspect’s location.
About four hours after the standoff had begun, at 7 p.m., there were the sounds of many discharges, each making a “foomp sound” instead of the sharp sound of a gunshot or a “flash-bang” device – which presumably was tear gas being shot into the structure. Soon afterward, neighbors at our position – a block away – noticed irritation in their eyes, noses, and throats.
“Following multiple hours of crisis negotiations, the suspect refused to surrender, so officers deployed an irritant gas into the garage,” Sergeant Allen said. “At some point, the suspect fired [gun] shots; when SERT officers moved in at 7:15 p.m., they found that he’d fired at police, and then apparently had shot himself.”
After flooding the area with an “irritant gas”, SERT officers move in.
Quickly transitioning from making an “arrest” to performing a “medical rescue”, officers swiftly carry the wounded man from his blockaded location toward a waiting ambulance.
“He was transported to the hospital by ambulance with a life-threatening injury, but no shots were fired by police,” observed Sergeant Allen. “Because there is evidence that the suspect fired at least one shot at the police, PPB Homicide Unit detectives responded to the scene to investigate.”
At 7:21 p.m., an “all clear” notification was sent to area residents, and those waiting to return home for the evening were finally allowed to proceed.
-12 The yet-unnamed suspect, apparently suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound, is loaded into an ambulance.
At the end of the event, Sergeant Allen reported that the suspect had been the subject an arrest warrant from Washington County, but would not yet officially identify the suspect. “This was an assignment to arrest a criminal suspect with an arrest warrant, and did not involve immigration enforcement!”
If you have information about this case, contact homicidetips@police.portlandoregon.gov or call 503-823-0479, and reference Case No. 25-283891.
© 2025 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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