Fatal shooting closes Springwater Corridor until this afternoon

Springwater crossing

I took this photo yesterday from the same spot where Portland Police were involved in a fatal shooting this morning.

A fatal, police-involved shooting this morning has resulted in a closure of the Springwater Corridor Trail.

According to the Portland Police, the incident happened at around 6:00 am near the intersection of the paved trail and SE Foster Road. Officers responded to reports that someone had been robbed while walking on the trail. The suspect apparently used a crowbar.

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Here’s more on the shooting from the Portland Mercury.

Portland Parks & Recreation just announced that the Springwater Corridor is closed from SE 101st to SE 112th for police activity, “possibly until 5:00 pm tonight.” The detour is to go north on SE 101st to Harold, then east on Harold to 122nd, then south on 122nd to re-join the trail.

Interestingly, I just rode through this exact intersection yesterday on a loop to the Gresham Fairview Trail and east Portland. Judging from this aerial photo from KATU news, I took the photo above from the same spot where this morning’s assault took place.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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dan
dan
9 years ago

I hate to hear this…bad situation all the way around

Spiffy
Spiffy
9 years ago

Portland Parks & Recreation just announced that the Springwater Corridor is closed from SE 101st to SE 112th for police activity

I’m betting that it’s only closed from 101st to Foster, and then from Foster to 111th (not 112th)… I highly doubt they closed it where it crosses Foster because that would impact motor vehicles…

Spiffy
Spiffy
9 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

the KATU article reports “Foster is closed through part of Lents, from SE 101st to 112th.”… Foster doesn’t intersect 112th…

Todd Hudson
Todd Hudson
9 years ago

Wasn’t there an article last year about security concerns and drug users on the Springwater? Apparently now it’s unsafe during daylight hours too. That’s wonderful. Though it has become a wonderful homeless colony.

Hart Noecker
9 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

And now there’s police with guns killing people. Truly dangerous out there now.

Carlos B
Carlos B
9 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

Yes, the police are looking for people to kill. Were you there to see this? Ok, here’s from KTPV: “They tracked down the suspect and were speaking with him about the assault when, without provocation, he attacked two officers with a 3-foot crowbar, police said.”

I no longer will ride my bike on Springwater Trail. My last experience encountered ‘homeless types’ (go ahead judge this typecast) whose pitbulls charged me while riding. No leash, no control, no care.

davemess
davemess
9 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

Actually this section of the Springwater has been cleaned up a good bit in the last few months. The camps in the bushes along the trail have all been abandoned (or eliminated).

Spiffy
Spiffy
9 years ago
Reply to  davemess

they try to keep up a good image during peak usage… all the camps will come back… rinse, repeat…

davemess
davemess
9 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

Sure, but many of them were’t there during the winter though. Granted the Johnson Creek bust up did shift a lot of homeless people all over.

CaptainKarma
CaptainKarma
9 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

Todd: or you could go to the mall, and get shot….or you could go to high school, and get shot….or you could go to work, and get shot…all by people who have homes….

Carlos B
Carlos B
9 years ago
Reply to  CaptainKarma

Yes. You really could. And your point is what MR Captain Karmello? Are you defending homeless people and the problems some of them have caused on this bike path. Somehow including all other shootings at schools, malls etc. As if, because they have happened in those places it mutes the crime problem on this trail? Which has made it a undesireable recreational place.

was carless
was carless
9 years ago

The weather is bringing out the crazies!

…and yesterday, officers shot a crazy driver just off the Springwater trail near Woodstock, at Johnson Creek Boulevard and 37th Avenue.

http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/223855-85658-police-fire-on-suspect-during-johnson-creek-traffic-stop

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
9 years ago

more here:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/06/portland_police_officer_fatall_1.html

why is it that police never have non-lethal weapons ready in a situation like this?

Hart Noecker
9 years ago
Reply to  spare_wheel

Because they’re trained to use lethal force when threatened. And they’re cops.

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
9 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

it’s amazing how often assailants rush up to police and trained officers (who should be in good physical shape) manage to trip or fall which, of course, necessitates the use of deadly force.

Chris I
Chris I
9 years ago
Reply to  spare_wheel

I’ll defend their right to use deadly force when they need to, but I also feel that we should have higher standards for physical fitness; it would probably help avoid some situations, allowing the officer to strategically out-maneuver the assailant, allowing more time for non-lethal options.

But what do we expect? If I had to drive around in a car all day, I would probably be less physically fit.

CaptainKarma
CaptainKarma
9 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

My son worked at a donut shop. Every morning, group of cops, eating donuts. No joke. They should instead maybe take one hour of their overtime and run/walk/bike. One hour, every other day. Might save lives, and not just the cops’.

Pete
Pete
9 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

I used to play racquetball with a police officer who was a fit and formidable opponent. I hadn’t seen him in many years, but ran into him last summer and didn’t recognize him – even after he caught my attention and said “aren’t you going to say hi?”. He was nearly triple the size of when we played!! I would hate to drive around in a car all day for work – it’s hard enough trying to stay fit when I travel for business and eat out with colleagues and clients each night.

John Liu
John Liu
9 years ago

Police don’t usually use non-lethal weapons against an attacker using a lethal weapon.

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
9 years ago
Reply to  John Liu

meh.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago
Reply to  spare_wheel

What’s that supposed to mean?

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
9 years ago
Reply to  Mike

the portland police bureau is currently operating under a federal consent decree because police have repeatedly violated the rights of unarmed citizens by kicking or shooting them to death and lying about it). given this brutal track record i have little faith in the “word” or an officer who just gunned someone down because they “tripped”. hopefully, internal affairs gives this tragic homicide some scrutiny. i am sure the feds will.

Hart Noecker
9 years ago
Reply to  John Liu

Cops lie.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

People lie.

Hart Noecker
9 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Most people aren’t walking around with loaded weapons all day long.

Todd Hudson
Todd Hudson
9 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

I’m guessing Bikeportland’s publishers/editors, who need a good relationship with PPB, appreciate the “I hate cops” comments on his blog.

Aaronf
Aaronf
9 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

I’m guessing they’re reading along, agreeing that cops suck. How can the smartest comment section on the internet be wrong?

Mike
Mike
9 years ago
Reply to  Aaronf

They suck until someone breaks into your house and threatens your family. Maybe then, when you dial 911, they don’t suck. Ever ponder that?

9watts
9watts
9 years ago
Reply to  Mike

“in New York City, the fatality rate for sanitation workers is twice as high as that of police officers, and seven times as high as that of firefighters.”

just thought I’d mention that since some folks here love to emphasize valiance on the part of our police force; how dangerous their jobs are, etc.

Carlos B
Carlos B
9 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Why Mr Noecker would cops want to break into your home?

9watts
9watts
9 years ago
Reply to  Carlos B

That is a really good question. But the answer is not very pleasant.
Christian Parenti asked a similar question when he was researchgin Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in an Age of Crisis

I recommend it.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

You make me want to become a police officer. I am not sure if it is in order to prove you wrong, or to prove you right.

Spiffy
Spiffy
9 years ago
Reply to  John Liu

only because anything can be used as a lethal weapon…

9watts
9watts
9 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

The scale of the use of deadly force by US police is completely nuts.

US – 400/yr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States
UK – 1 or 2/yr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_Kingdom

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447919/
“Justifiable homicides committed by police officers are important in regard to public health because they have a distinctive etiology and because the intentional killing of citizens by an agent of the government has consequences for communities that go far beyond the immediate loss of life. Almost every major civil insurrection that occurred in the United States in the past century was initiated or accelerated by the perception that the police had misused their right to use deadly force.1,2 These incidents frequently cause large numbers of injuries and deaths, and they disrupt the social and economic relationships through which essential economic, health, public safety, and social services are provided to communities.3–5”

Paul Hanrahan
Paul Hanrahan
9 years ago

RE davemess: I rode by there last Saturday and there were all kinds of characters in and around the tall grass, camping and such. ‘Cleaning up’ an area does not make the issue go away, it just moves it. Access to jobs, housing and health care helps clear the problem.

davemess
davemess
9 years ago
Reply to  Paul Hanrahan

Sure, I’m not here to debate homeless in general. The area around Foster (give or take a mile) has been cleaned up the last couple month. That’s all I was saying. I use the trail a couple of times a week year round, so I notice these things.

Philip
Philip
9 years ago
Reply to  Paul Hanrahan

As a side note, the construction industry is booming in Portland. Anyone willing to show up at 6:30am every day and push a broom or swing a hammer could easily find d job.

Mattdpdx
Mattdpdx
9 years ago

I rode the Springwater into Portland this morning and past through the intersection probably minutes before the incident and noticed the individual. With him, and a number of other encounters on the trail, I could tell passing quickly and as unnoticed as possible was key.

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
9 years ago

Ok now..let us get back to focus on the bicycle topic…so…now that the “HIGHWAY 26 of Bikes” was closed by a police blockade, was PBoT / Portland Parks / ODoT etc. ready for a preplanned signed bike detour for such a disaster?

How about some marked * emergency bike ped trail routing onto an alternative arterial? This is a regional route of significance for bicycles, if it were such for motorized vehicles there would be a Plan C (a Plan B for Cars = C), so how did the Plan B go for Bikes? The Springwater Trail and other regional bike trails of significance have very limited on and off connection links to the aerial network so the points of detour are already set…perhaps gates (I-5 Interstate Bridge path control) and flip signs (think snow route) could be preplanned and set up for just such an emergency.

Remember folks, this is what it takes to reach a 25% bike mode split…by 2030 or 2100.

*chalk paint stencils and lanes…think Rose Parade lines or detour sharrows., it is not rocket science, just adaptability for bikes. Its been done for cars so often before, so the tools are in the tool box. Just delete the word “car” and add “vehicle” as in “bike” in the instructions.

John Liu
John Liu
9 years ago

I think people who rob other people, and attack them with crowbars, suck.

Especially when they make cyclists afraid to ride one of our best MUPs.

TOM
TOM
9 years ago

I rode SpringWater yesterday (6-27) and counted no less than 6 tents within 200 yards of 82nd.