Portland police shoot, kill crowbar assailant

Portland police shot and killed a crowbar-swinging assailant who attacked two officers this morning.

The incident occurred along one of southeast Portland’s busiest streets, Southeast Foster Road, where it crosses the Springwater Trail Corridor. The road is temporarily closed from 101st to 112th avenues.

The call started at 6:03 a.m. as a robbery of a pedestrian, according to a police news release.

Two officers arrived at Foster Road and Southeast 104th Avenue and spoke to a man who said he had been assaulted.

The victim told officers where he’d last seen the suspect. The officers searched and found the suspect along the Springwater Corridor, a former rail line now used as a public trail from Southeast Portland to Gresham, Ore. and beyond.

Without provocation, the suspect attacked the officers with a large metal crowbar, according to police. The officers, who were standing close to the man, began backing away. One officer fell backward as the suspect continued to advance, still swinging the crowbar.

One of the officers fired a handgun, striking and killing the suspect, whose name will be released Friday.

Neither officer needed medical attention at the scene as a result of the attack. The victim of the initial attack was also OK.

Both officers will be placed on paid administrative leave until the completion of the investigation, as is standard protocol. Their names will be released on Friday morning.

Portland’s mayor and police chief were both on the scene, along with a cadre of detectives and crime scene investigators.