See why this incident leaves both Foster-Powell neighbors – and police officers – on edge …
Police close down SE Foster Road, east of SE 82nd Avenue of Roses, after a suspect runs – and shoots at – the officers who contact him.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Although the situation ended less than two hours after it began, late on February 24, area residents and police officers say they’re concerned that there’s potential for gang backlash violence.
This incident began at 11:20 p.m., when a Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Gun Task Force officer and a Gang Enforcement Team sergeant were riding together. They spotted suspicious activity in the parking lot of Shimmers Gentlemen’s Club at 8000 SE Foster Road.
After coming out of this night club, a suspect shoots at police officers and then takes off running.
“Several individuals immediately left the parking lot when the patrol car pulled up, and went inside the bar.” said PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson. “But shortly after, one subject exited the bar and the officer and sergeant attempted to contact him.”
The man bolted from police and ran north, across SE Foster Road. “During the foot chase, the subject fired at the officer,” Simpson reported.
District officers maintain a parameter while SERT officers search for the fleeing shooter.
As many as 20 police units ringed more than two dozen blocks, setting up a dragnet to find the fleeing suspect, as the PPB Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) officers also joined the search.
PPB’s Air Support Unit, called “Air 1”, responded over the neighborhood.
Comparing information, officers prepare to move in on the location where they think the suspect has been located.
“Officers heard noises and saw a person matching the suspect’s description near SE 79th Avenue and Raymond Street, and relayed that information to SERT and Air 1,” Simpson said. “Air 1, observing from above using FLIR [an infrared thermal imaging system], spotted a person lying in the backyard of a home in the 7900 block of SE Raymond Street.”
Using an audio voice amplifier system, PPB Crisis Negotiators tried, without success, to talk the suspect into surrendering
At 1:10 a.m., a SERT officer fired a “flash-bang” less-lethal shot at a fence near the subject to get his attention, Simpson stated. “Before they fired the second less-lethal round, officers heard what they believed was a muffled gunshot.”
An officer with a police dog approached a man on the ground who was dressed in black, lying motionless in the backyard of a house, and reported seeing the suspect with injuries that appeared to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It was this man, 26-year-old Quintrell Shaimon Holiman, who police say shot at them, and who the Oregon State Medical Examiner determined then committed suicide.
“Medical personnel were called in immediately to check the subject, and they determined that he was deceased,” Simpson asserted. “A handgun was located at the scene.”
Later the following day, officials declared that it was 26-year-old Quintrell Shaimon Holiman who had died of the self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.
Holiman, a documented Hoover gang member, was convicted in 2006 of Attempted Assault in the First Degree, after a gang-related shooting outside Jefferson High School.
Having also served time at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution for a 2012 conviction on the charge of “Felon in Possession of a Firearm”, Holiman was transferred last fall to the Northwest Regional Re-entry Center, located near Portland International Airport in outer East Portland. He reportedly walked away from that facility in late January, and was wanted.
This incident ends a block east of Marysville Elementary School.
“At the time of this incident, police didn’t know Holiman’s identity, or that he had outstanding arrest warrants,” Simpson acknowledged.
The night following the incident, a large group of individuals gathered near the intersection of SE 79th Avenue and Raymond Street, where Holiman had died. Police officers observed the group from a distance. “It looks like they’ve gathered to pay their respects,” an officer commented to East Portland News.
The following day, a remnant of police crime scene tape marks the residential fence where the confrontation ended.
A neighbor who identified himself as “Jack” also looked on. “I used to feel safe walking my dog, here near my house,” he said, carrying his Pembroke Welsh Corgie named Baxter. “After 36 years living here, I now feel very unsafe about my neighborhood.”
Law enforcement officers are also concerned, Simpson noted. “Gang Enforcement Team investigators have been made aware of social media posts suggesting that Holiman did not take his own life and was instead killed by police.
“Investigators are also aware of threats being made to law enforcement as a result of this incident,” added Simpson.
That it didn’t end that way, but indeed was a suicide, has been established by the Oregon State Medical Examiner. But, to ensure neighborhood safety, the Portland Police Gang Task Force has beefed up its presence in the area for the time being.
© 2015 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News
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