Posted on 03/15/2012 10:14:05 AM PDT by marktwain
The man shot by Washington County tactical officers in New Columbia Tuesday night had grabbed a gun because he thought intruders were on his property after his wife had checked on their barking dog in their backyard and saw a stranger in dark clothing.
Alberto Flores-Haro, according to relatives and witnesses, did not know that the men surrounding his home and neighborhood Tuesday night were authorities approaching to raid a residence just a few doors down from his home in the 9500 block of North Woolsey Avenue.
"There was someone in our backyard, and my mom called our stepdad," said Daniel Ibarra. "He told me to go upstairs and get the gun."
Ibarra, 17, said he didn't know where it was, and Flores-Haro followed him up the stairs and retrieved it. Ibarra said a stranger came through the home, and left through the front door.
Neighbor Juan Soto Martinez, 16, who lives across a walkway from Flores-Haro's home, said he heard Flores at his front door yelling with a man, who seemed to be outside, on the side of his house. Then, he heard multiple gunshots.
Ibarra found his stepdad collapsed in the front doorway of their home, shot in one arm and twice in the stomach, and called 9-1-1 about 10 p.m.
" I grabbed a rag and put pressure on his forearm," Ibarra recalled, and told his mother to grab a towel from the kitchen and place pressure on Flores' torso wounds.
GS.51SHOT115-02.jpgView full size Ibarra said his family had no idea that the men surrounding their home in tactical uniforms of army green were from the Washington County Sheriff's Office's Tactical Negotiation Team, who were assisting police.
He said of his dad, "I think he just wanted to scare them away. He didn't know who they were."
While his father lay bleeding, Ibarra said he was ordered out of the house.
"Once I stepped outside, I was ordered to get on the ground," said Ibarra, a Roosevelt High School senior.
He said the rest of his family, his mother and four other children from ages 5 and 13, were ordered to get out of the house, and then tactical officers grabbed his stepdad and carried him to a waiting ambulance.
Flores-Haro, 31, remains in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.
In a release this afternoon, Portland police said three members of the Washington County Tactical Negotiations Team were involved in the shooting: one Hillsboro police officer and two Washington County Sheriff's deputies.
While Sgt. Pete Simpson said early today "there was an exchange of gunfire,'' police said later this afternoon that detectives have not determined if Flores-Haro fired any shots at police. Police also said that the officers "repeatedly identified themselves as law enforcement officers.''
"Preliminary information released at the scene was than an exchange of gunfire occurred. However, detectives have been searching for shell casings at the scene, which is lined by a heavily wood area. A handgun was recovered at the scene, but detectives have not determined if the man shot at police.''
Mayor Sam Adams also released a statement: "The City takes incidents such as this very seriously. As with any officer-involved shooting, there will be a thorough investigation and we will make sure every element is examined.''
This morning, Portland police have said only that the man shot by officers had approached police with a handgun as officers were getting ready to serve a search warrant at a nearby, unrelated location.
Simpson said this morning that as police prepared to approach an apartment to execute a search warrant that a man from a nearby apartment emerged with a handgun. Simpson did not know if the man fired first or how many shots officers fired. He said only that "there was an exchange of gunfire." No officer was shot.
Police later in the night did serve a search warrant at a home just doors down from Flores' house on North Woolsey Avenue, and arrested Anthony Bagsby, 20, and Cocoa Tapli, 16, who face accusations of attempted aggravated murder in connection with a Sunday night gang-related shooting and robbery on North Woolsey Avenue.
Portland Lt. Robert King declined to release any more details on the officer-involved shooting. He declined to release the name of the man shot, or explain why police were withholding the name. King also declined to answer whether the tactical officers had identified themselves as police outside Flores' home.
Portland had a mobile command center set up at the site through the night, and left about 10 a.m. today.
Many residents in the neighborhood said they got little sleep after they heard the gunshots. Some reported hearing between four and five, others said six or seven.
Martinez, who lives across from Flores' home, said he was watching TV in his living room, and caring for his younger brothers and sisters because their mom wasn't home at the time.
"I heard like four or five shots," Martinez said. When he looked out his window, "Alberto was laying in the front of his home, bleeding."
Martinez said he told his younger siblings to "get down," and then took them to an upstairs bathroom.
Residents in the area described Flores as a family man and a good neighbor, who worked loading trucks. They described him as in his 30s.
"He's a good neighbor," said Maria Bosyuk, who lives next door to Flores. She said her children heard the shooting and couldn't sleep.
"It sounded like three, then three more" shots, said Michelle Clopton, who lives on North Woolsey Avenue.
As she went to call 9-1-1, she heard police shouting commands to someone on a megaphone."The cops were on a loud speaker, saying 'Come out with your hands up!' Clopton said, who kept peeking out her window.
Another resident who asked not to be named said she was lying in bed when she heard six to seven gunshots. "I grabbed my phone to call police and noticed they were already all outside," she said.
scenephoto.jpgView full sizeMaxine Bernstein/The OregonianHome where Alberto Flores-Haro was shot, pictured far right. Building in foreground is location where tactical officers were readying to raid with a search warrant last night. She said the police orders via megaphone came much later, at least an hour or so: "Come out of the house! Do it now!"
An officer instructed her to stay in the back of her house, she said, and she was worried about the many children in the neighborhood.
"I was sitting in my living room and heard a lot of shots," said Dorine Nafziger, a North Woolsey Avenue resident who lives with her husband and 3-year-old son.
She and her husband went upstairs and looked out their back window.
"We saw the big SWAT tank and a lot of officers in army green suits, helmets and shields," Nafziger said.
She got on Facebook to share information with other neighbors to figure out what was going on. At one point , she said she saw police lead five people from a home in handcuffs.
"It freaks us out," Nafziger said. "It's not the first time something like this has happened in our neighborhood." Sonja Andreas said the gunshots came in what she described as two staccato explosions. Then she said, she heard a lot of yelling and screaming.
She called 9-1-1 and said she was told, "Don't worry, there's a police action happening right now."
But Andreas said she didn't see the usual marked police cars, but a large armored vehicle, and men in what looked like military-type garb.
Tactical teams from Portland, Washington and Clackamas counties routinely rely on each other. Simpson said officers on these teams train with each other and are "fairly interchangeable." Washington County's tactical team is comprised of officers from multiple police agencies and was assisting Portland police last night as Portland's tactical team was in training.
Simpson did not know how many officers fired on the suspect or which agencies they represent.
--Maxine Bernstein
One basis for distinction is the fact that in many cases it may be difficult to judge whether someone accused of attempted murderer would have actually committed murder in the absence of intervening factors. Suppose, for example, if police capture someone who is pointing a firearm at someone and appears ready to shoot. Such a person could be charged with attempted murder, but it may be difficult or impossible to show whether, in the absence of police, the defendant would actually have gone ahead and killed his target, or whether he would have had second thoughts and gone home with nobody ever being aware of his aborted plans.
You bet, any thugs/criminals near me, at least have the decency to put signs on their doors, broadcasting who they are and what they've done. It makes it real easy to evict them and force them to live elsewhere.
Yep, I get the feeling it’s just a matter of time until the SHTF.
sailboats are still running pretty cheap right now...just sayin
(i’m loading mine up)
Or your dog....or your grandma....or....
If I'm the DA, that isn't attempted murder (contingent on the wording of the state law defining the crime of attempted murder). IMO it's not "attempted murder" unless he ATTEMPTS to MURDER the guy, i.e. in this firearm scenario, actually pulled the trigger, or we have some forensic evidence that he tried to pull the trigger, but failed because the safety was engaged, etc. Pointing a gun at someone isn't attempted murder. Reckless endangerment, maybe, if it wasn't justified, but not attempted murder.
Because it would NEVER occur to home invaders to identify themselves as cops, and since cops work for the homeowners, it should be the homeowners and not the cops who bear the consequences of guessing wrong.
[ do I really need the /s? ]
You'd think this type of response would be reserved for armed dangerous hostage takers, mass murderers, and international terrorist.
Unfortunately, this is not the case, as there are now hundreds of military swat raids in neighborhoods, all over this country, every single day.
An extremely disturbing state of affairs.
Even if they did, so what? It's not like that idea would never occur to home invaders, and why should it be the homeowner who pays the cops' salaries to take the risk.
And then what about this factor:
“The poorest man may in his cottage, bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England may not enter; all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement.” - Pitt the Elder, speaking in the House of Lords, 1763
It’s all about BUDGETS. If the SWAT Team isn’t used almost daily, their budget is cut. Presto gizmo, it’s used almost every day, where normal cops used to do the same things. Now, it’s like a military raid. “Use it or lose it” applies to SWAT budgets.
Vroni you stated:”All this could have been avoided if the neighborhood hadn’t allowed the thugs that caused all that to live there in the first place...it’s called civil courage.
“
My Comment; Leo? You are PATHETIC!!
And basically the same with government at every level. Look how the EPA, DEA, HLS, CPS, (the list is endless) has morphed into punitive, costly overreaching controlling entities, constantly exercising it's power, demanding bigger budgets, more control, more authority.
Meanwhile, the few things government is actually supposed/required to do, such as secure our borders, millions cross unabated and are rewarded and given prizes while forcing the tax payers to subsidize it.
” You’d think this type of response would be reserved for armed dangerous hostage takers, mass murderers, and international terrorist.
Unfortunately, this is not the case, as there are now hundreds of military swat raids in neighborhoods, all over this country, every single day.
An extremely disturbing state of affairs.”
Especially when you consider that the house I foreclosed on was in the Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village, California area....the 2nd lowest crime rate in the country.
To me, these are all signs that we are reaching the end of freedom’s road.
“Losing my freedom was not the change I hoped for.”
There you have it, they have their stories wired up tight. Amazing how well they ALWAYS do that.
I concur. It’s a noose, incrementally tightening, choking the freedom and life out of this country, by a government who clearly has a deep desire to control and regulate everything, except for things such as our sovereignty and securing our borders.
Outside of unseen dramatic signification changes which would limit the size, scope and spending of government at all levels, it’s going to get very ugly down the road were being led.
““Use it or lose it” applies to SWAT budgets””
Well, that explains the huge rise in the number of SWAT
raids, all over the country. All the doggone govt. programs, once initiated, turn into a bloated monster, sooner or later.....it doesn’t matter if it’s state or federal.
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