See why, in the Hazelwood neighborhood, a man with a BB gun closed down the TriMet MAX Blue Line for quite some time …
Looking west toward the 102nd TriMet MAX Blue Line Station, police closed off the area after reports came in of someone shooting at trains and cars.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It was puzzling to neighbors, motorists, pedestrians, and riders of the Blue Line, when TriMet’s MAX trains stopped running along East Burnside Street in both directions, between 104th and 109th Avenues, on the morning of March 19.
Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct and Transit Division officers swarmed the area starting at 11:17 a.m., starting a process that would last about two hours.
Taking cover behind their vehicles, these officers wait while others search for a suspect.
“I heard that some guy with a rifle or something was shooting up cars and trains, maybe from the apartment building in that area,” stated Angeliquea Jones – who said she was waiting to get back to her apartment.
“I don’t know about that,” countered Jerry Coenen. “I heard someone was shooting a BB gun down there,” he said, looking west from SE 108th Avenue along the rail line.
Looking with a monocular through a slit in the fence next to the Bible Missionary Baptist Church, an officer spies the suspect.
Officers weren’t taking chances; an hour into the incident, all of the law enforcement personnel had taken cover behind buildings or police SUVs. As many as 15 police units were at the scene, as the incident unfolded.
After about an hour, MAX trains were again running – but police kept the area cordoned off to vehicles and pedestrians, and advised residents to shelter in place.
East Precinct and Transit Division officers confer as the incident unfolds.
“This did involve a subject with a BB gun,” confirmed PPB Public Information Officer Lt. Tina Jones to East Portland News, after the incident ended.
The subject was arrested on a warrant, and the BB gun was seized,” Jones said. “No injuries were reported.”
Not only did he lose his BB gun, 24-year-old Randy Joe Patterson III is now behind bars on a Parole Violation charge. MCDC booking photo
Arrested was 24-year-old Randy Joe Patterson III, Lt. Jones informed. Patterson was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 1:32 p.m. that afternoon.
At his arraignment in Multnomah County Circuit Court that day, Patterson learned he’d be held, without bail, on a charge of Parole Violation, and he is still in Inverness Jail.
© 2019 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™