Armed standoff in Northwest Portland
Everyone lived, no one was arrested. What can we learn?
Rarely does the public get better information on an armed standoff than the one that occurred last night at Northwest 21st and Irving streets in front of Scottie’s Pizza Parlor. The details below come from police reports, four local television stations and OregonLive.
A shirtless man in obvious distress and with a knife in his waistband ran toward the picnic tables in front of the restaurant. The police arrived about 30 minutes later and confronted the man, who they knew had arrest warrants.
A police spokesperson said the man lunged at officers with a knife and pepper sprayed them.
"The police kept yelling, you know, ‘If you don't drop this knife, we're going to shoot you. If you don't drop this knife, we're going to shoot you!’ said Cally Nicholls, a visitor from Seattle who was interviewed on the scene by three stations.
“He was backed up against the wall, terrified, and the police came out with rubber bullets. I think they had already tased him at that time. But they shot a rubber bullet, and it shot the glass behind him,” she continued.
“I kept yelling at the police, ‘Please don’t shoot him, please don’t shoot him. He’s harmless. He’s harmless. I think he felt safe with us, so he ran toward us.”
Neighbors calmed him down, gave him food and money, and took him to a clinic for care of a wound on his arm.
The police determined that the man’s aggression was directed only at them, backed off and made no arrest.
That’s a more complete set of facts and observations than the public usually gets in such situations.
What are some lessons we can draw?
Did the police respond appropriately?
Was the engagement by citizens helpful?
Here are the reports from the local news outlets:
This was the official news statement from the Portland Police Bureau:
Posted on FlashAlert: April 14th, 2025 9:56 PM
Officers have moved away from the suspect in the earlier standoff. Although the suspect was armed with two large knives and a large can of pepper spray, the incident commander determined that the threat to the public had dissipated, and the suspect’s aggression was only towards officers on scene. After officers backed away, community members checked on the suspect and have given him food and money.
One officer was affected by being pepper sprayed and no other officers were injured. As the suspect is known to officers, a plan will be developed to take him into custody at a later date. The shelter in place has been lifted for the area.
No arrest made
###PPB###
On Monday, April 14, 2025, at 5:58p.m., officers from the Central Precinct were driving through the area of Northwest 21st Avenue and Northwest Hoyt Street when they noticed a subject in the area known to them to have a warrant. Officers stopped their patrol car and got out to contact the suspect. The suspect immediately used pepper spray on the officers and lunged at them with a knife before running off.
Additional officers arrived in the area to assist. Officers attempted to use a Taser on the suspect, which was unsuccessful. Officers also attempted to use less lethal munitions, which were also unsuccessful. The suspect ran to the front of a restaurant near Northwest 21st Avenue and Northwest Irving Street where officers were able to contain him.
A shelter in place was issued for surrounding businesses and residents. Additionally, streets have been closed off in the area. Officers have been evacuating businesses and escorting people away from the location. Officers trained in enhanced crisis intervention are on scene and attempting to work with the suspect, who is still armed.
I believe Portland emergency response protocol is to send the police to such calls where weapons or threats are involved. If it were merely a mental health breakdown without danger to others, Portland Street Response would likely get the call. The first responder on the scene makes the decision as to whether force or supportive service is needed, and that decision has a cascading effect. PSR was apparently not called out on this one, so citizens filled their lane.
Personally, I don’t care, if people there thought he was safe. My kids are often up there around that time. People with mental illness and /or drug use are unpredictable as our family knows very well to our loss. He should be offered services but he should not be allowed to wander the streets terrorizing the rest of us.