A 36-year-old man died after a Portland police officer shot him during a downtown incident on Oct. 15 in which police say he attacked two people with a box cutter. The Portland Police Bureau identified the man as Eric J. Hurtado. Officer Daniel Hall, who had served with the bureau for more than seven years, fired the shots, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Hurtado was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The body-camera video shows Hall directing Hurtado to drop the box cutter and move away from the area, including from the man police say he had stabbed. Hall warns that he will shoot again if Hurtado does not comply. The footage and KATU’s report show Hurtado continuing to stab the man after Hall’s first shot; Hall fired twice in total. Other officers treated the wounded man, while Hurtado was taken to a hospital.
Police were called to the area near Southwest Broadway and Washington Street just after 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 following a report of a man assaulting people with a weapon, Portland Police Bureau reported here. Separately, KOIN reported that officers responded to the 700 block of Southwest Alder Street just after 4:30 p.m. after receiving a report of an assault, while KPTV placed the attack at about 4:30 p.m. in the 400 block of Southwest Broadway. Police say Hurtado stabbed a person outside the Kimpton Hotel Vintage at 422 S.W. Broadway, and officers recovered a box cutter with a broken blade at the scene.
A Rampage That Moved Through a Hotel, a Sidewalk and a Cafe
Samuel Meche, who works as a valet for the Dossier Hotel, told KOIN that the violence began when the suspect screamed at a receptionist inside the hotel lobby before the confrontation spilled out onto the sidewalk. Meche said three bystanders managed to restrain the man until he pulled out his box cutter and attacked a security guard. From there, according to Meche, the suspect ran through traffic and into a nearby cafe, where he stabbed a worker in the neck.
KPTV reported that the two people who were hurt and the man who police say attacked them did not know each other. Both stabbing victims suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were expected to recover, according to a report from OregonLive. Meche told KOIN he helped one of the victims apply pressure to the wounds to try to prevent severe bleeding while waiting for help to arrive.
Witnesses Describe Earlier Attacks
Multiple witnesses told KATU that the suspect had been stabbing people with the box cutter while physically and verbally assaulting others in the area before Hall arrived at the scene and got out of his patrol vehicle.
Officer Placed on Leave as Investigation Continues
Hall was placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting was investigated; the Portland Police Bureau says administrative leave is standard protocol, and KATU calls it standard procedure. Portland police detectives continued investigating both the stabbings and the fatal shooting, according to a separate OregonLive report on the case. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office later said Hall's use of deadly force was justified, as noted by KATU, while also recognizing that a person's mental health condition may affect behavior, perception and decision-making.
Deadly-Force Oversight Context
The Portland Police Bureau defines deadly force as force likely to cause death or serious physical injury, including firearm use, according to its deadly-force incident data page. The definition describes the category of force, rather than determining whether a particular use was justified. In a separate oversight effort, Portland’s Independent Police Review said it released an external review by the OIR Group of 10 completed bureau deadly-force investigations involving incidents from 2019 through 2022. That review’s stated scope provides broader oversight context, not a finding about Hurtado’s 2026 shooting, according to the Independent Police Review.
Jennifer Singh contributed reporting from the day of the stabbing and shooting, and Steve Benham authored KATU's account of the newly released footage. The Portland Police Bureau maintains an interactive dashboard on deadly-force incidents, allowing the public to filter cases by year, subject weapon, initial call type and other factors, according to a statement from the bureau. The bureau's directive on procedures following an officer-involved shooting is outlined in policy 1010.10, Deadly Force and In-Custody Death Reporting and Investigation Procedures, according to a separate bureau update.
