Portland police shot and killed a man last February when he tried to pull a handgun from his jacket pocket as they confronted him at a Southwest Portland condo complex hours after he fired shots at his roommate, according to newly released transcripts of the grand jury investigation.
A Multnomah County grand jury later cleared Officer Reynaldo Guevara and Acting Sgt. Zachary Kenney of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Joel Arevalo, 30, at the Broadway View Condominiums.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has now released transcripts of testimony presented to the grand jury, providing the first clear public account of the fatal encounter.
Police had responded about 6:45 p.m. Feb. 19 after a 911 call from Arevalo’s roommate.
The roommate, Christopher Penner, said Arevalo had threatened to kick down the apartment door, claiming Penner owed him money from a bike sold on Craigslist, according to the transcripts.
Penner tried to leave the scene in his Mazda sedan but Arevalo fired multiple times, striking the windshield, according to investigators. Penner crashed into a retaining wall and then fled on foot as Arevalo disappeared back into their ground-floor flat at the Broadway Heights Apartments, next to the condo complex.
Police arrived and a resident at the apartment building, Brent Macias, rushed out with his 12-year-old son and warned officers that the disturbance had transformed into a shooting, according to his testimony.
Police surrounded Penner’s apartment and began issuing commands over a loudspeaker. But Arevalo, who had been staying there for only a few months, had already slipped out the back window and onto a steep forested incline, according to the transcripts, which cited surveillance footage.
Guevara, a Portland police officer for two years, was assigned to watch over Macias and his 12-year-old son in a carport near the shared entryway between the apartments and the condos on Southwest Broadway Drive.
As police continued to believe Arevalo was in his apartment, a man approached the cordon outside and began watching the scene, Guevara testified. The man declined to identify himself, he said.
Guevara later learned it was Arevalo.
“He just stands there and lingers,” Guevara testified. “Doesn’t say anything.”
About 90 minutes later, Penner and his girlfriend also returned to the police perimeter, Guevara said, when the woman burst into tears and said, “That’s him.”
Guevara said he turned and tapped Kenney on the shoulder and said “61″ — a code word meaning officers should “go hands-on” with a suspect and make an arrest.
In separate testimony, Kenney said Arevalo’s demeanor suddenly shifted into a fighting stance and he began pulling at a heavy object that looked like the handle of a gun in the right pocket of a winter jacket.
Kenney said he heard Guevara firing first and then pulled his own trigger until Arevalo collapsed on the ground.
Kenney, an 18-year member of the force, had never fired his service weapon except in training before.
“My job … is to try and get him home safe whether he wants to go home safe or not. And I wasn’t able to do it this time,” Kenney testified, adding an expletive. “I’m sorry, but that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Guevara said Arevalo was already holding the gun at chest level by the time the officer opened fire.
Portland Detective Erik Kammerer, who investigated the shooting, said a later bullet count determined Guevara had fired six times and Kenney three times. Arevalo was hit once in the chest and once in the arm, the detective said.
Other officers fired a less-lethal projectile at Arevalo to ensure he was incapacitated on the ground and couldn’t return fire, then handcuffed him and called in medics, according to the transcripts. A 9-mm Kel-Tec handgun was found under his body, Kammerer testified.
Macias, the apartment neighbor, testified that he hurled himself onto his son as the gunfire erupted, but didn’t see Arevalo’s weapon.
“I know enough to know when someone is pulling a gun. And that was enough for me,” he said, referring to Arevalo. “And it was enough for the officer as well.”
— Zane Sparling; zsparling@oregonian.com; 503-319-7083; @pdxzane
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