Portland mayor speaks after mass shooting involving federal agents
Two people were injured in a shooting by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, authorities and officials said.
Two people were injured in a shooting by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, authorities said on January 8, and local leaders and law enforcement appealed for calm as tensions rose across the country over the fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by an immigration officer the day before.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day said in an evening press conference that Portland police responded to reports of a shooting at around 2:18 p.m. local time. Officers confirmed that federal agents were involved in the shooting.
About six minutes later, police said they received information that a man had been shot and called for help in an area about three miles from the scene of the shooting. Officers found a man and woman with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
The victim was taken to a local hospital, Day said. The condition of the injured person was not immediately known and authorities did not release their names.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on social media on Jan. 8 that Border Patrol agents were conducting vehicle stops in Portland. The statement said the driver, believed to be a member of the Venezuelan gang Torren de Aragua, tried to “use a weapon” on the car to run over the operatives.
A Department of Homeland Security official told
Homeland Security officials added that the occupants of the vehicle were also gang members and were involved in the recent Portland shooting. The FBI and Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for information.
The shooting occurred just a day after federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in her car in Minneapolis. The shooting sparked two days of protests in Minneapolis.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Layfield said the Oregon Department of Justice is investigating a shooting in Portland that involved federal agents and injured two people.
“We have made clear our concerns about the excessive use of force by federal officers in Portland and across the country, and we have also made clear our intent to investigate situations involving federal officers to ensure they are held accountable for acting within the scope of their official duties,” Layfield said in a news release. “Today’s incident only reinforces the need for transparency and accountability.”
The investigation will examine “whether federal officers acted in excess of their legal authority,” the statement said. If evidence of criminal activity is found, the case may be referred to the Multnomah County District Attorney.
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Day said at a news conference that local police “do not know the facts of this incident” related to the shooting, but are providing assistance to federal authorities who are investigating.
“This is a federal investigation. The FBI is leading the investigation. We are in contact with the FBI,” Day said. “This is their responsibility…At this point, we don’t know if this is an immigration-related event.”
Day noted that Portland police were not involved in the shooting and are not involved in immigration operations in the city.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to suspend all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation is completed.
“We know what the federal government alleges happened here,” Wilson said at a news conference. “There was a time when you could just take them at their word. Those days are long gone.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek echoed the mayor’s sentiments, saying federal officials in the region are “destroying trust.”
“The Attorney General and other leaders have made clear our concern about the excessive use of force by federal officers in Portland, and today’s incident only reinforces the need for transparency and accountability,” she said. “Oregonians need clear answers.”
Earlier Thursday, Multnomah County Chairwoman Jessica Vega Pederson said the county commission voted unanimously to extend the state of emergency in response to the “continued harm of ICE activity” in the area.
“Multnomah County will not sit idly by as the federal government attacks our neighbors,” Pederson said. He also called on the FBI, which is leading the investigation, to allow local law enforcement to participate and to be transparent with local authorities.
A Dec. 12 email obtained by The New York Times revealed that federal immigration officials advised officials to remain vigilant against protesters and “be prepared to take appropriate and decisive action in the face of an imminent threat.”
The email mentioned increased protests and threats against federal employees, the newspaper said. The email urged staff to “remain highly aware of their surroundings” and to call 911 in case of an emergency.
President Donald Trump’s second term has sent immigrants and other federal agents to several Democratic-led cities that the president says are rife with violent crime and illegal immigration. Cities targeted include Los Angeles, Washington DC, Portland, Oregon, and Chicago.
The operation sparked widespread protests, arrests, and at times clashes between demonstrators and police. In some cases, local governments have accused the Trump administration of exaggerating the characterization of urban crime, and some have recently called for ICE to be removed from cities.
Oregon Senate Majority Leader Kayce Jama (D-Portland) also reiterated his opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We don’t need you,” Jama told a news conference. “You are not welcome here. Please leave our community.”
Jama’s message came after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made fiery comments during a press conference following the Jan. 7 shooting death of a woman by an immigration officer.
Portland City Council adjourns after federal officer shooting
Two people were injured in a shooting by federal agents in Portland on January 8, according to Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney.
After the City Council meeting, 1st Ward Councilman Jamie Dunphy said two of his neighbors were injured in the shooting and are “sitting in a hospital bed, hoping they can get home safely.”
“I’m furious,” Dunphy explained, adding that the two injured were a husband and wife.
City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during the meeting that the victim “is still alive and we are looking forward to more positive information.”
The shooting in Portland is the latest incident involving federal agents carrying out President Trump’s immigration crackdown across the country.
On January 7, Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good “weaponized” the SUV to run over agents in an act of “domestic terrorism.” Local authorities, citing video of the incident, strongly disputed Noem’s account and called for the arrest of the officers involved.
In Maryland, two people were injured on December 24 when a driver tried to run over a federal agent during an immigration enforcement operation. Investigators at the scene fired shots at the driver, who crashed the vehicle. A passenger was injured in the accident.
On September 12, 38-year-old Mexican immigrant Sillio Villegas Gonzalez was shot and killed by federal agents in a Chicago suburb. Homeland Security officials say the man resisted arrest and dragged the officer with his car. Video evidence from the scene shows an agent describing his injuries as “nothing serious.” Villegas Gonzalez’s lawyers called for a thorough investigation into the shooting.
Another person was shot in the Chicago area on October 4th. Marimar Martinez, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and wounded by federal agents on the city’s South Side. Prosecutors charged Martinez with assaulting a federal agent with his car, but dropped the charges after Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum testified that Martinez did not ram him.
Japhet de Oliveira, a spokesperson for Adventist Health, told The Oregonian that police responded to a shooting at Adventist Health’s Portland campus.
Tina Henderson, who works in a medical office at the scene of the shooting, said someone ran into her suite to warn her about the shooting.
“Everyone, please be careful,” Henderson said, according to the newspaper. “There was just a shooting in the parking lot.”
Police responded to reports of a shooting at around 2:18 p.m. local time, officials said. The shooting was reported in the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street, police said.
The two injured people called emergency services for help in the area of Northeast 146th Street and East Burnside around 2:24 p.m. A second police officer responded to the scene and found the couple injured.
Police applied emergency medical aid and the two were taken to hospital. Police said they were not involved in the shooting.
“We are in the early stages of this case,” Day said. “We understand that many people are feeling emotional and tense in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but we ask members of the community to remain calm as we seek further information.”
Police say both locations are closed to the public and the investigation is ongoing.
Wilson said the two people were shot and wounded in the Hazelwood neighborhood in northeast and southeast Portland.
Wilson blamed Homeland Security officials for the shooting, which came a day after a woman was shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.
“Just one day after the horrific violence in Minnesota at the hands of federal agents, our community here in Portland is now facing another deeply disturbing incident,” Wilson said in a statement.
The mayor called on ICE to suspend all operations in the city until a full investigation into the shooting is completed. He urged residents to remain calm and “come together to protect Portland.”
“Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized operatives, and the administration’s threat of ‘all out’ has deadly consequences,” Wilson added. “Federal militarization undermines effective community-based public safety and goes against the values that define our region.”
Nathan Vasquez, district attorney for Multnomah County, Oregon, spoke briefly with reporters and confirmed to reporters outside the hospital that the FBI was on the scene.
Footage from a local television station showed Portland police assisting the FBI at the scene. Some FBI agents were also seen in the hospital parking lot and going door to door at nearby homes.
“I’m very concerned about what happened here today,” Vazquez said. “We are here from the District Attorney’s Office to monitor, assist and make sure a thorough and complete investigation is conducted.”
East Portland City Council members are awaiting further information about the shooting, but noted that the incident is part of a “pattern of violence that we have seen time and time again across our country.”
Oregon’s U.S. senators all responded to the shooting in a statement.
In a post on X, Sen. Jeff Merkley said he was “deeply concerned about the reported shootings of two people by federal agents outside Portland Adventist Hospital,” adding, “President Trump wants to cause a riot, so please keep President Trump’s protests against ICE/CBP peaceful. Don’t take the bait.”
Sen. Ron Wyden also said on X that he was “monitoring the initial damning reports” and that President Trump’s “deployment of federal agents to my hometown is clearly inciting violence and must end.”
USA TODAY has reached out to both senators for further comment.
Contributors: Jeanine Santucci and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY. Reuters
