Police Say Victim Shouldn’t Have Fired

A 26-year-old man from Portland, Oregon, used his pistol to scare away an attacker in the parking lot of Anania’s Variety Store at 606 Washington Ave. just after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. But police advise against doing it the way he did.

According to Portland Police Department, the victim told them he had been leaving a store and had entered his vehicle when a masked man opened that passenger side door.

The victim said the masked man made a threatening gesture inside his sweatshirt, prompting the armed citizen to draw his own weapon.

The would-be robber turned and fled when he saw his target was armed. The victim chased after the fleeing man for a short distance down Washington Ave., firing two shots as he did.

Detectives said they do not believe the suspect was injured by the shots, though they were fired in close proximity.

Portland Police Lt. Robert Martin said that the discharging of a firearm in the manner the victim did is ill-advised:

“We are fortunate that no one was struck by the errant bullets fired down Washington Avenue. There are a number of residences in that area and Washington Avenue is a heavily traveled roadway.”

The suspect is described as a black man in his early 20s, 6 feet tall, weighs around 160 pounds and was wearing a black and green camouflage hooded sweatshirt, a black neoprene face mask and dark jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 874-8575.

It is never a good idea to fire a weapon at threat that is fleeing from you, unless you can articulate in court that you had a credible reason to believe the threat was moving away from you to cause harm to someone else.

Knowing the laws pertaining to self-defense can help keep you from making the wrong decisions. Read here for an interactive map about US Concealed Carry Laws by state.

What do you think of this self-defense shooting? What would you have done differently? Leave a comment below to let me know.

2 Comments

  1. Dennis Irving on May 10, 2019 at 6:50 pm

    When the guy ran, he should have been watching and on his phone with 911, not firing his weapon. Stupid and I believe illegal!

  2. Brent Moschetti on July 9, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    He is lucky he missed with the shots he fired. If the guy ran and you shoot him you are going to jail. Just call 911 and watch where the guy runs to.

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