A suspect in a sex crimes probe in Portland managed to dodge death after police shot him during the early morning chaos of a raid.
Cops from the Portland Police Bureau's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, backed by the muscle of the Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT), had swooped in before dawn on Wednesday to serve a search warrant, looking for evidence in a 2700 block of Northeast 137th Avenue house, when things turned violent, and as they entered, a 44-year-old man came barreling out the back, rifle in hand, and got shot, according to Portland Police Bureau.
Despite his armed exit, the unnamed suspect survived the encounter and is being patched up in a local hospital. The warrant that brought the cops to his door is linked to charges that include half a dozen counts of encouraging child sex abuse and a chilling account of encouraging the sexual assault of an animal.
The on-scene officers escaped the incident unscathed but, following standard procedure after an officer fires a weapon the shooter has been sent on a taxpayer-funded vacation, an administrative leave while the higher-ups look into the shoot-out. Police Chief Bob Day and city officials, including Mayor Wheeler’s staff, are in the loop on the investigation, which will endure a thorough internal review to dissect every move made from the moment the SERT team members arrived until the echoes of the last gunshot faded.
