Sunday morning got tense in Foster-Powell when Portland police fired bean-bag rounds at a man who had reportedly shown a gun along SE Powell Boulevard. Officers say they recovered a handgun and arrested a 33-year-old near SE 72nd Avenue.
How the encounter unfolded
Portland Police Bureau East Precinct officers were called out on a reported “threat-with-weapon” along SE Powell Boulevard and first contacted the man shortly before 11 a.m. The encounter stretched to roughly 45 minutes before it ended with officers taking him into custody near SE 72nd Avenue.
The bureau’s Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team tried to reach the man using de-escalation tactics during the encounter. As the arrest unfolded, officers used less-lethal bean-bag rounds, and witnesses reported hearing two loud pops as the man was cornered in a front yard near SE 72nd Avenue. Police recovered a handgun at the scene and arrested 33-year-old Aurelio Vega Salazar. Paramedics evaluated him at the location and left without transporting a patient. The arrest and charges were logged under case no. 26-45834, according to East PDX News.
PPB crisis response and training
The bureau’s Behavioral Health Unit oversees the Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team, training ECIT officers in crisis communication and connecting people in crisis with community resources in an effort to reduce the need for higher levels of force. The unit notes that roughly 8% of police calls have a mental-health component and that force is used in only a small share of those situations, with an emphasis on de-escalation and medical evaluation where appropriate, as outlined by the Portland Police Bureau’s Behavioral Health Unit.
Neighbors and next steps
Neighbors reported that the incident appeared to begin near SE 70th Avenue and wrap up around SE 72nd. One passerby, reacting to the sounds of the bean-bag rounds, shouted, “The police shot him! You heard that, right? They shot him!” after hearing the two pops. Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to email [email protected] and reference case no. 26-45834, according to East PDX News.
