By Catalina Gaitán, Nick Gibson, Maxine Bernstein
oregonlive.com
TUALATIN, Ore. — A sheriff’s deputy is in critical condition after being shot Wednesday morning in Tualatin while serving an eviction notice at an apartment complex, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
The suspect is dead, according to authorities.
The sheriff’s office has not publicly identified the wounded deputy, but Sheriff Pat Garrett called him “an incredible person” and a “complete professional” who is resilient and compassionate. The deputy, shot multiple times, was undergoing surgery Wednesday afternoon, sheriff’s officials said.
He was shot about 10:20 a.m., according to a broadcast of Washington County Sheriff’s Office radio communications. A sheriff’s SWAT team located the suspect dead inside an apartment around 12:50 p.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Detective Anel Ceric said. Authorities have not said how the suspect died and have not released his name.
Deputies were serving a civil eviction at The Timbers apartments next to the Nyberg Woods shopping center when the suspect fired on them and hit one of the deputies, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputies had forced open the door and the shooter fired at them through the door, according to the radio broadcast.
The wounded deputy and two other deputies were trapped on the second-floor balcony of the apartment building while the suspect was still inside the home and firing a gun, according to the radio broadcast. At least one of the deputies returned fire, Ceric said.
“Just get to the most secure location you can where you can defend yourself,” a person can be heard saying on the broadcast. “We’ve got armor coming your way.”
A person can be heard yelling in pain.
“He needs medical attention,” one person said. “We need to make a plan.”
Deputies surrounded the apartment where the suspect was believed to be holed up, alone and armed, according to the broadcast. Residents in the apartment complex were told to shelter in place.
The wounded deputy was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in North Portland.
A drone was used in the search for the suspect, whose first name apparently is Christopher, according to the communications broadcast. Authorities set up a command post near the shopping center, and more than a dozen police cars converged on the scene. Tualatin Fire & Rescue and an ambulance also arrived at the site.
The Timbers at Tualatin is a circular series of two-story, wood-paneled buildings tucked off Nyberg Street. The complex is one of a handful of residential buildings in the retail-oriented area east of Interstate 5. Across the street sits a McDonald’s, a couple of gas stations and offices.
By mid-afternoon, investigators appeared to be focusing on a second-story apartment in the B building off Nyberg Street at the south end of the complex. A Washington County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Unit truck was parked near the front of the building and yellow evidence markers were visible on the stairwell.
The Washington County Major Crimes Team is investigating the shooting, with Beaverton police taking the lead. Tualatin, Tigard, Sherwood, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Portland and Port of Portland police responded to help after the shooting, along with deputies from the Multnomah County and Clackamas County sheriff’s offices.
Outside Legacy Emanuel, about a dozen Washington County deputies as well as Portland police maintained a vigil just outside the hospital’s main entrance.
At a short news conference at the hospital, Sheriff Garrett thanked everyone who responded to the shooting and helped at Legacy Emanuel.
“I’m sincerely grateful for the medical staff here at Legacy Emanuel Hospital for doing everything they can do right now to get our deputy through this very difficult period,” Garrett said.
This is the second time in less than a month in the Portland metro area that a law-enforcement officer has been shot on duty. At the end of June, two Clackamas County deputies, Dan Blair and Jeremy McKenna, were wounded while investigating a break-in report in a commercial area along Southeast Johnson Creek Boulevard in unincorporated Clackamas County. One deputy was shot in his ballistic vest and suffered a ricochet wound that fractured his pelvis and the other deputy was struck in the upper left arm. Both are recovering.
An unarmed security officer also was shot at work when he confronted a visitor this past Saturday at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Northwest Portland. Bobby Smallwood, 44, died when he was shot in the chest during a struggle with a man who had pulled out a handgun. Police later shot and killed the suspect.
Reporter Zane Sparling contributed to this report.
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