Questions surround how this outer East Portland resident came to be shot by a Gresham Police Department officer …
Three Portland Police Bureau sergeants stand by, along SE 122nd Avenue, after a Gresham Police Bureau officer shoots a subject during a disturbance in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Piecing together the life of 49-year-old Israel Marcus Berry before his sudden death on the evening of May 31 has been challenging.
According to public records, Berry had lived in Fairview, before moving to the 10700 block of SE Holgate Boulevard in 2015. He reportedly owned a music and entertainment company called “Israel Berry Promotions”, but its website has been taken down.
About a block east of SE 122nd Avenue along Kelly Street, officers and detectives begin an investigation into the deadly shooting.
What is known that Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers, and at least one “mutual aid” officer from the Gresham Police Department, had been dispatched to the 12400 block of SE Kelly Street on a “DISTURBANCE – PRIORITY” call 9:36 p.m. that evening.
“The Gresham Police Department provided ‘mutual aid’ in the City of Portland while the Portland Police Bureau managed several very large [downtown Portland] demonstrations, which included taking emergency calls for service in the precincts,” explained PPB Public Information Officer Lieutenant Tina Jones.
Staff members with the PPB Forensics Division unload the tripod for their Leica 3D ScanStation camera – which they’ll use to map, and later digitally reconstruct, the crime scene.
“The officers responded to the call of a disturbance in the 12400 block of SE Kelly Street, involving a white male adult who was making threats,” Jones reported.
“The Gresham Officer deployed deadly force, and a male subject was shot and pronounced deceased at the scene; the PPB officers at the scene were witnesses, and did not deploy deadly force.”
Soon, narrow dead-end SE Kelly Street was filled with vehicles from the PPB’s Homicide Division, Forensics Division, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, and the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office – all collaborating on this investigation.
A request to summon the Bureau’s Mobile Command Center vehicle, parked at East Precinct, was denied, for a lack of qualified officers available – due to the commotion downtown.
Dozens of officers and detectives investigate this officer-involved shooting.
20+ vehicles spilled out of the street, partially blocking SE 122nd Avenue, as the investigation got underway.
On June 2, Jones released an update, officially identifying the deceased as Israel Marcus Berry, age 49, of Southeast Portland. “The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office has determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound,” Jones revealed.
Then, on June 3, the Gresham Police Department officer was identified; with information that he’d been hired by his Bureau in January 2018.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective William Winters at 503.823.0466, William.winters@portlandoregon.gov or Detective Travis Law at 503.823.0395, travis.law@portlandoregon.gov.
© 2020 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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