Homeless Shelter Shooting: Officers, Victim Identified By Police

PORTLAND, OR — Seven Portland police officers and one Multnomah County deputy killed 48-year-old John Andrew Elifritz at a homeless shelter in downtown Portland April 7. The events preceding Elifritz's death include numerous 911 calls, a carjacking, and threats of suicide; but the community is still asking, was the police response appropriate?

A one-minute video posted to the internet by Morgan Pickering shows the final, chaotic moments of Elifritz's life: Police rushing toward him, weapons drawn; Elifritz shouting incoherently; homeless shelter guests hurriedly trying to get out of the way; the voices of several concerned onlookers unsure of what to do; then gunfire, smoke, and the unsettling realization a man has just been killed.

"The Portland Police Bureau values human life and accepts the authority to use lethal force with great reverence," Outlaw said in a statement. “I am aware a video was taken of this incident by a community member and that video was posted to the internet. Please be reminded that deadly force investigations are extremely complex and take time. The Police Bureau is committed to transparency and will ensure the entire investigation is released in a timely manner that does not impact the integrity of the investigation."

The video shows what happened from one perspective, but there's clearly more to the story.

Portland police authorities have offered their timeline of Saturday's events leading up to the fatal shooting, and more than two dozen witnesses — including a dozen officers who witnessed the shooting but did not take part — have reportedly given their statements to police and various Portland area media outlets.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, PPB Chief Danielle Outlaw, and Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury have also offered their statements regarding the shooting, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon and several other activist groups and homeless advocates have shared their thoughts and opinions on Elifritz's death as well.

"Multnomah County works daily to help people find shelter and recovery services. So I was deeply saddened to learn of the shooting Saturday night at the Cityteam shelter," Kafoury said in a statement Tuesday. "While the Portland Police Bureau investigates this tragic incident, I want to extend my sympathy to everyone involved, including the people who witnessed and experienced this traumatic event."

“Last night officers responded to multiple calls for service regarding a suspect that ultimately ended in an officer involved shooting. The loss of a life is always tragic," Wheeler said in a statement released Sunday. "My priority is to discover the facts and circumstances regarding this incident. Already, there are those who want to immediately define what happened. It would be highly irresponsible for me to participate in speculation at this time. I urge us all to allow investigators to do their work, to uncover the facts, and to report on their findings.”

The shooting investigation continues, and it's possible not every question will have an answer, but some details made available so far offer a small sense of what occurred in Elifritz's fateful final hours.

It began with a 911 call logged around 2:25 p.m. April 7 that was placed by a man who identified himself as Elifritz, police officials said. Elifritz reportedly told 911 dispatchers his family had been murdered at a duplex-under-construction in the 4400-block of Southeast 79th Avenue.

Officers responded but were reportedly unable to locate anyone inside the duplex. Elifritz's family was found later, unharmed.

A contractor at the construction site reportedly told police he'd seen a man standing outside earlier who was "acting in a bizarre manner."

Police said the man was described as Elifritz.

Other officers spotted Elifritz a short time later at the intersection of Southeast 86th Avenue and Southeast Holgate Boulevard. They attempted to contact him, police said, but Elifritz backed away, pulled a knife from his pocket, and then threatened to kill himself by holding the knife to his own throat.

After Elifritz turned and ran, officers decided not to chase him, police said. Instead, the officers reportedly made a referral to the Behavioral Health Unit to follow up.

Roughly two hours later, just after 4:30 p.m., a woman called 911 to report she'd been carjacked at Southeast 72nd Avenue and Southeast Foster Road, one mile west from where officers previously saw Elifritz.

Elifritz reportedly jumped into the passenger seat of the woman's silver 2003 Honda CRV and began trying to wrestle for control of the vehicle while she was stopped at a stop light.

The woman's father, who was in another car at the same stop light behind the CRV, reportedly got out and tried to intervene by pulling the woman away from Elifritz — who then promptly jumped into the driver's seat and pulled away.

Three hours later, at 7:25 p.m., a man called 911 to report he and his family had been tailgated and threatened by someone in a CRV near North Columbia and North Chautauqua boulevards. The man reportedly told officers the driver of the CRV pulled alongside his vehicle "in the bike lane and pointed a black object at him, which he believed to be a gun."

Four minutes later and more than seven miles away, another 911 caller told dispatchers they'd just seen a man jump from a moving vehicle at Southeast Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard and Southeast Stark Street. The man appeared "drunk or high" and was heading east on Southeast Stark Street, the caller said.

(Editor's Note: For Elifritz to travel 7.6 miles from the Portsmouth neighborhood to the Buckman neighborhood in four minutes, he would have needed to drive at a constant 114 mph on Interstate-5 at 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday.)

About 15 minutes later, at 7:46 p.m., a 911 caller from the 600-block of Southeast Grand Avenue reported seeing a man standing in the doorway of a business for five to 10 minutes while holding a knife. At 7:50 p.m., the caller told dispatchers the man was walking south on Southeast Grand Avenue.

Five minutes later, police were told a man in the 500-block of Southeast Grand Avenue was holding a knife to another person's throat.

At 7:58 p.m., police converged at City Team Ministries' Portland shelter where 30 to 40 people were gathering for an AA meeting. According to witnesses, moments before police arrived, Elifritz appeared at the door shirtless, standing in the rain.

City Team volunteers reportedly invited Elifritz inside and gave him a jacket, but then Elifritz began acting "erratic," according to witness reports, either cutting or stabbing himself in the neck.

According to the Portland Mercury, shelter resident Kirk Smith watched the entire scene unfold.

“It was intense,” Smith told Mercury reporters, adding that Elifritz was “twitching and freaking out” when he entered the shelter.

“He looked crazed, you could tell he was looking for help,” Smith told the Mercury.

Then Elifritz began cutting himself.

“There was blood running down all over him,” Smith said.

The Mercury reported Smith as the man who alerted police to Elifritz's location.

Two unidentified officers were first to enter the shelter. They reportedly used "less lethal" bean bag rounds first, hitting Elifritz twice and knocking him down, according to witnesses who spoke to the Associated Press.

Staggering to his feet, Elifritz reportedly ran to the rear of the shelter as nearly a dozen officers poured into the building, shouting at him and telling him to drop the knife.

In Pickering's video, Elifritz can be seen moving behind a waist-high barrier. As Elifritz moves suddenly to his left police open fire, unloading an unknown number of rounds into his body and the shelter wall behind him. A witness reported hearing eight separate, distinct shots.

Police on Monday officially identified Elifritz as the alleged carjacker and shooting victim. On Tuesday, the Bureau released the names of the officers and deputy involved:

• Officer Richard Bailey;
• Officer Justin Damerville;
• Officer Kameron Fender;
• Officer Alexandru Martiniuc;
• Officer Bradley Nutting;
• Officer Chad Phifer;
• Officer Andrew Polas; and
• Deputy Aaron Sieczkowski.

“The video shows a disturbing and chaotic scene of people in the shelter running and yelling in fear, while others looked on, including one person in a wheelchair, as Portland Police officers enter the building with guns drawn," ACLU Oregon Executive Director David Rogers said in a statement. "In less than a minute, officers shoot and kill the man, while members of an already traumatized population, Portland’s homeless community, watch in horror.

"We join many in the community by calling for a prompt, thorough, and transparent investigation into this shooting," he continued. "The public deserves to get a detailed account of why this man was shot and what actions Portland Police took to avoid yet another fatal shooting."

Top image: Elifritz's undated Oregon driver's license photo via Portland Police Bureau