Shelter-In-Place Lifted in Southeast Portland as Armed Robbery Suspect Remains at Large

Chaos erupted in Southeast Portland's Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood following an armed robbery on Thursday. Portland police issued a shelter-in-place order, urging residents to stay indoors, as they searched for a suspect believed to be armed and dangerous. The drama began around 5 p.m. when an assailant robbed a smoke shop in the 12300 block of Southeast Powell Boulevard, KOIN reported. No injuries were reported during the incident.

As the search intensified, authorities spotted a car and pursued a person thought to match the description of the armed suspect, which ended in a crash at Southeast Powell Boulevard and Southeast 122nd Avenue, no one was injured in the crash. "Officers believed the suspect to be armed and hiding from police in the neighborhood," KPTV disclosed. A perimeter was set up, spanning from Southeast Powell Boulevard to Kelly Street, and between Southeast 122nd Avenue and 124th Avenue.

The situation took a turn when authorities, upon reviewing the evidence, realized that the person they were chasing may not have been the armed suspect from the smoke shop robbery. According to a statement by the police bureau obtained by OregonLive, detectives "learned that the robbery suspect’s description was slightly different than the elude suspect, and that they likely were not the same person," which prompted a new direction in the investigation.

This new information led to the lifting of the shelter-in-place order, no longer viewing the immediate area as a threat to public safety. The tactical teams that had been deployed to search for the suspect were subsequently released. The robbery suspect, however, continues to elude capture. Despite the false alarm, residents were shaken by the night's events, the specter of violence casting a shadow over the neighborhood, once thought safe from such disturbances.