PORTLAND — A knife-wielding man killed by an officer this weekend was from out of state, and detectives are trying to pin down his connection to a neighborhood dispute that preceded the violence, the Portland Police Bureau said Monday.
The 36-year-old man died late Sunday after he was shot during what was reported to police as a burglary in progress in outer southeast Portland. When officers arrived, they found the person who placed the 911 call trying to restrain the apparent burglar.
But police said Monday that detectives learned that the incident began earlier in the weekend as a neighborhood dispute between the occupants of two houses.
“It’s more of a neighborhood dispute than a burglary,” Sgt. Greg Stewart said Monday.
Stewart said detectives are investigating the man’s criminal history and his relationship with the homes involved in the dispute. Stewart said he wasn’t sure if the houses are next door to each other: “If they’re not next to each other, they are very close.”
The Oregon State Medical Examiner planned to conduct an autopsy Monday and notify the man’s next of kin.
Police said the suspect, after leaving the grasp of the 911 caller, advanced toward officers while waving a 10-inch, double-bladed knife in a figure-eight motion. One officer, a six-year veteran, fired two rounds that struck the man but did not knock him over. Another officer, a nine-year veteran, then deployed a stun gun, the force of which sent the suspect to the ground.
An ambulance took the man to a hospital, where he later died.
The officers, whose names have not been released, were placed on paid administrative leave until a grand jury decides whether the use of force was legally justified.
The bureau said more details will be released after the grand jury proceedings, and it will conduct an internal review.
