Armed robbery suspect shot, killed by PPB

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The suspect in an armed robbery near a Portland hotel was shot to death by police Thursday morning after a series of seemingly connected crimes.

The incident began around 7 a.m. when a man sleeping in his car across the street from the Portland Value Inn, 1707 NE 82nd Avenue, was robbed at gunpoint.

It ended a little more than 2 hours later with a Portland police officer shooting and killing the suspect, described as a black man in his 20s.

‘You’re lucky you’re not dead right now’

The victim of the armed robbery — who requested anonymity — told KOIN 6 News he was sleeping in his car.

He heard a knock on his car window, and thought it was his friend who stays at the motel.

“I lowered the car window and here comes a .45 straight in my face. After that, he’s going through the whole car, he’s threatening me,” he said. “I say, ‘Just leave me alone, I don’t have anything, I’m just as homeless as you. I just have this damn car.'”

The victim said he believed the robber was about 23 and had only scary words to say.

“‘You’re lucky you’re not dead right now,'” the victim said the robber told him. “‘I’m from Chicago. Usually we shoot you first, then we’ll take your stuff.’ That’s the first thing that came out of his mouth.”

Before he left, the robber told the victim not to call the police. “‘Before they get me, I’m going to put 2 in you,'” the victim said he was told. “So I sat in my car about 10, 15 minutes after he left. I went to the hotel.”

The hotel called police around 7:24 a.m., PPB Sgt. Pete Simpson said.

The second and third scenes

Not long after, police received another call from Banfield Pet Hospital about a car prowl, with a similar description of a suspect. During their search, they came upon the suspect and began to talk with him, but he ran off, Simpson said.

The search then tightened up in that area and a K-9 was brought in to help, he said. Not long after, a nearby residence was broken into, and police searched that scene.

Around 8:45 a.m., Simpson said, officers cleared the house from their search. About 40 minutes later, police spotted the suspect in the 8300 block of NE Hancock.

One police officer fired at the suspect, Simpson said. There is no information at this time the suspect — who has not yet been identified publicly — fired his gun, though Simpson said a handgun was recovered at the scene.

Simpson said there were different crime scenes in the multi-block area that included the hotel, the car prowl and the house. Investigators are gathering evidence and talking to victims and witnesses, who all saw different things at different times.

Authorities will work to identify the suspect and contact next-of-kin within the next 24 hours.

The officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave, standard procedure in these incidents.

‘Calm, cool, collected’

The robber, the victim said, seemed “calm, cool, collected, like he knew exactly what he was doing.”

The victim lost a green vest and his food stamp card. He believes the robber would have hurt somebody who resisted.

“(The police) had the neighborhood closed off, dogs everywhere. He knows he’s caught. He decided to put up a fight. He got it. He lost the fight. Tragically, he made the wrong decision.”