It only took a day for Portland Police to find and collar the suspected gunman in outer East Portland. Here’s what led up to that arrest …
In the Russell neighborhood, officers look for the man who shot and wounded an acquaintance. Courtesy KATU-TV Channel 2 News
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It was Friday the 13th in the Russell neighborhood, near NE 140th and Eugene Court, on Friday, March 13, when shots were heard. Portland Police Bureau (PPB) North Precinct officers were dispatched to look into it at 3:02 p.m.
When they arrived, they found an adult man who had been shot. The victim was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“The suspect was believed to be known to the victim, and he’d the scene,” a PPB official told reporters.
In the middle of the night, officers make a plan to arrest the suspected shooter.
However, the suspected gunman “returned to the scene of the crime” the next day – early on Saturday, March 14. At about 12:30 a.m., officers returned having gotten wind of it.
Coordinating with the officers were the PPB’s Enhanced Community Safety Team and detectives. Officers developed a custody plan, and ultimately found and arrested the suspect without incident.
Officers stand by, while the suspect is taken into custody, down the street.
Arrested was 71-year-old Robert Jesse Trujillo of Portland. He was taken to, and then booked into, the Multnomah County Detention Center the same morning at 7:43 a.m. on charges of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Assault in the First Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, and Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
Currently, Trujillo is still behind bars, without bail, in Inverness Jail.
It’s an ongoing investigation, Portland Police officials say, so if you have information about this crime and haven’t talked with police, send your info to crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, and refer to Case No. 26-72556.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
