A robbery suspect was taken into custody Tuesday morning off Lower Boones Ferry Road after shots were fired at officers during a chase that traveled through Tigard and Tualatin and ended at the Lake Oswego, Ore., border, police said.
The only person injured was the suspect, who was shot by police. He was arrested after stopping a van in front of a Walgreens on Boones Ferry Road near 63rd Avenue, police said. A woman and children were in the white van, but police do not know if they knew the suspect, said Jim Wolf, the Tigard Police public information officer.
Police did not reveal the condition of the suspect or where he was shot. He was taken to an area hospital.
The chase caused at least two traffic crashes, said Jim Wolf, the Tigard public information officer, at an afternoon press conference. One was in Lake Oswego, he said. He did not know where the other occurred. No one was injured.
The incident began at the Aladdin Inn and Suites off Barbur Boulevard in Portland at about 10:20 a.m. The suspect fired one shot, according to police, then took off in a white van, which a witness called in to police.
The suspect stole $70 after pointing a gun at a man working at the front desk of the hotel on Southwest 30th Avenue, according to multiple media reports.
Officers saw the van at a Tigard gas station and pursued the vehicle. The suspect shot at officers while traveling on Southwest 72nd Avenue in Tigard, between Pacific Highway and Highway 217, police said.
Officers are reconstructing the timeline of events, but Wolf reported there could be “five to seven” crimes scenes.
Boones Ferry, where the pursuit ended, has been closed, and traffic in the area was congested as of mid-Tuesday morning. All Lake Oswego schools went into temporary lock-in, the district reported. The road reopened Tuesday afternoon.
Crime scene tape was blocking the east side of Boones Ferry from Southwest 63rd Avenue to 65th Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
Traffic was diverted to westbound Boones Ferry. Southbound Interstate 5 traffic exiting at Boones Ferry was being diverted westbound. Eastbound Boones Ferry traffic was being onto Interstate 5 southbound.
Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said the scene was secured, and that Tigard police are leading the investigation.
Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman from the scene reported by late morning that one suspect had been taken into custody. Portland, Tigard and Tualatin police agencies are involved, as are Multnomah and Clackamas counties sheriff’s departments. The Washington County Major Crimes Unit is leading the investigation.
Courtney Dresser, an employee at Cafe Yumm! on Boones Ferry, said she saw police officers pointing their guns at a white van ordering the occupants to come out. She saw a woman she estimated to be in her 40s get out, then she saw three children leave the vehicle with their hands on their head. One of the children was crying, Dresser said.
The driver had already left the van when Dresser first witnessed the scene.
