A wanted man pointed a gun at pursuing police officers Tuesday evening, and the officers fired at him as he ran into a Southeast Portland auto-repair shop, where two bystanders dodged a barrage of bullets flying around them, according to witness accounts and court papers filed Friday.
The court documents don’t say that 49-year-old Robert Connelly, who was wanted on outstanding federal and state warrants related to gun and sexual-assault charges, fired at police.
Connelly now faces additional state charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm, a loaded 9mm handgun.
A probable cause affidavit offers the police account of what officers encountered while trying to arrest Connelly.
Police said Connelly ran from police as they fired at him and locked himself in the office of an auto-repair shop with a customer. He yelled at police that he had a hostage and kicked large holes in the walls while trying to escape. Connelly surrendered after about an hour and was arrested.
The affidavit names two Portland police officers, Ryan Espana and Michelle Petty, who were at the scene, but does not say whether either of them fired their weapons.
The auto-repair shop’s owner, 47-year-old Alonso Rodriguez, told The Oregonian/OregonLive he heard police fire at least 12 shots and that he thought Connelly fired about five. It is unclear from available security video if Connelly fired a weapon.
Portland police have not identified the sergeant and two other officers who fired their guns in Tuesday’s shooting, citing an FBI investigation into “concerns related to doxing and threats” against the officers.
Portland police must release the names of officers who’ve killed people within 24 hours of a fatal incident, but can withhold their names if there is a “credible security threat,” according to a 2001 police directive.
The bureau said it will release the officers’ names once it determines the “threat no longer exists.”
This is the second time in less than a month that the bureau has withheld the names of employees involved in shootings. Portland police have still not identified an officer who shot and killed a man July 27 in Southeast Portland, citing doxing concerns and possible threats to the officer’s family.
Portland police have fatally shot three people so far this year.
In an email Thursday to The Oregonian/OregonLive, police spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to provide any details about the threats to officers, including when they began.
“This is about specific, credible security threats to officers involved in shootings. It is not arbitrary,” Allen said.
Joy Jiras, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Portland office, said on Friday that she could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, and that the FBI does not control what public or city agencies like the Portland Police Bureau say in their own statements.
-- Catalina Gaitán; cgaitan@oregonian.com; @catalinagaitan_
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