7 EXCLUSIVE IMAGES | Here’s why this part of Gateway area near Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen was closed down, and was suffused with Portland Police officers, on a very cold rainy night …
SE 105th Avenue, going north of SE Stark Street, next to Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen, is closed down and filled with police vehicles as officers track down a man with a gun nearby.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It’s still not known why a man – later identified as 35-year-old Stephen Walter Sherrill – was in the parking lot of Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen at 10519 SE Stark Street on the wind-blown and rainy Tuesday evening of January 5, reportedly “pointing a gun at people”, as a Portland Police Bureau (PPB) official put it.
Sherrill’s behavior triggered PPB East Precinct officers – their precinct headquarters are just one block to the south – to be sent there at 10:05 p.m.
Taking cover behind a PPB patrol vehicle soon after they arrive, officers light up the breezeway where they’ve cornered the suspect.
Officers immediately began searching for the reported gunman, and spotted him nearby. At first officers thought they’d contained the suspect to the short stub of the 10400 block of SE Oak Street.
However, officers soon found that he’d moved into a breezeway of the Lorence Court Apartments off SE 105th Avenue, near Pine Street.
The hard wind-driven rain partially obscures some of the police vehicles parked in the area as they track a man with a gun.
Through the pounding downpour, officers could be heard loud-hailing Sherrill; calling out that they were stepping back, and might send in a police dog to “greet” him.
Overhead buzz two PPB drones.
Officers continued to reason with the suspect – but unsuccessfully.
“The man was not cooperative, and refused to surrender,” a PPB official later reported. “The PPB’s Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) were activated.”
In the meantime, officers evacuated some of the nearby apartments for their safety and protection.
One of the PPB’s armored SERT vehicles prepares to move into the area as the negotiations continue.
SERT and CNT officers, accompanied by the SERT Mobile Tactical Vehicle SERT Communications Vehicle and an armored truck, were staging in the parking lot of the former Big Lots! store, south of SE Washington Street, as were 11 SERT officers – who were joining the 25 East Precinct officers already in the area.
Once SERT and CNT were in position, they negotiated with Sherrill for well over five hours.
Another of the PPB SERT officers walk into the area.
When negotiations proved fruitless, SERT officers used an “aerosol irritant” to successfully subdue Sherrill and arrest him on January 6, 2024 at 3:21a.m.
Law enforcement agencies are forbidden, by Oregon State law, from letting you see the MCDC booking photo of 35-year-old Stephen Walter Sherrill after his arrest. CLICK HERE for details.
Sherrill was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) about a half hour after his arrest, at 3:45 a.m. on three Misdemeanors, and Menacing. However, at this arraignment, Sherrill learned he’d also face three additional counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, a Class C Felony.
Currently, Sherrill is still behind bars in the MCDC, held without bail.
While the PPB hasn’t requested any witnesses to step forward, if you do have information to help their investigation, please email it to crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, and refer to Case No. 24-4091.
© 2024 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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