Groups question police shooting at Oregon homeless shelter

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Groups and family members are raising questions about whether officers resorted to deadly force too quickly when they shot and killed a man inside a Portland, Oregon, homeless shelter who was wanted for a carjacking.

Bystander video posted on social media shows officers firing rounds not long after entering the shelter with guns drawn Saturday. Witnesses said the suspect had a knife. The video shows him across the room from officers before he appears to move closer to them, though it’s not clear why and a barrier partially obscures the view.

“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,” David Rogers, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, said in a statement Sunday night. “Was there any attempt to de-escalate the situation before officers open fire inside the homeless shelter full of innocent bystanders? If not, why not?”

Portland is among the West Coast cities struggling to cope with a rising tide of homelessness, and its police agency has been criticized for fatal shootings and other deaths at the hands of officers. A 2012 government investigation found that officers engaged in a pattern of excessive force against people who are mentally ill.

A few people on Monday chatted on the sidewalk outside the shelter near a memorial of roses, candles and a photo that had been set up for the man with no known connection to the facility.

David Abbs, who is homeless and was inside the shelter during the shooting, said the man entered a common-room area wearing no shirt or jacket.

He riffled through a donation bin, put on a jacket and went back outside, said Abbs, who stays at the shelter and did not recognize the man. When he returned, he was holding a knife, he said.

The man peered anxiously through the window and then cut his throat and one wrist with the knife, said Abbs, 63, although he does not recall seeing any blood.

“He said, ‘Stay away’ and he was looking outside,” he said.

“I looked by the door and there were two cops standing there with their bean bag guns and (they) shot him twice and knocked him down.”

The man got up and ran to the back of the room, near the entrance to the shelter kitchen, Abbs said.

About 10 more officers then rushed into the shelter with a police dog. Abbs could no longer see because he uses a wheelchair and the officers blocked his view, but he heard eight gunshots.

“One of the cops told me I should come outside,” he said. “They told me to go outside.”

Police have not identified the man, but David Elifritz told The Oregonian/OregonLive that it was his brother, 48-year-old John Elifritz. He questions why police didn’t use a stun gun.

“You see the video and you think cops are supposed to be trained to handle this,” David Elifritz said. “There’s quite a space between him and the officers.”

Police have released few details, other than saying the man was a suspect in a carjacking. After crashing the car, he entered the shelter during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Ted Wheeler have asked the public to withhold judgment until the investigation is complete.

“Already, there are those who want to immediately define what happened,” Wheeler said. “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.”

David Elifritz says his parents adopted John Elifritz and John’s brother as kids, initially taking them in as foster children. The boys’ biological mother died in a car crash and their biological father went in and out of their lives, David Elifritz said.

He told the newspaper that he last saw his brother a week ago and that John Elifritz didn’t share much about his life but seemed to be doing all right.

Court records show John Elifritz had a criminal history dating to his teenage years, with car theft a frequent offense in his 20s. His most recent conviction was in 2013, when he pleaded guilty to reckless driving and attempting to elude a police officer.