You could see it coming
I wrote a couple of months back about the extemely sketchy situation on the Sixth Avenue side of the Pioneer Courthouse in downtown Portland. Screaming mentally ill guys all over the place, and nervous security guards at the door of the antique courthouse. This was in broad daylight on a weekday.
"These men were shouting incoherently," I wrote. "They were obviously not well. The whole scene just smelled like danger."
This morning at 6:30, the inevitable happened.
Jason Roark, who told KGW he witnessed the shooting, said it started when the man walked up and threw a drink at the courthouse doors. The witness said the security guard told the man, "she's not here," after which the man tried to gain access to the building, leading to an altercation between the man and the guard. The witness said the man placed the guard in a chokehold and the guard then shot the man twice.
"They were tussling pretty aggressively," Roark said. "The suspect was getting the best of the security guard because he was bigger. Before the security guard let the suspect choke him out or kill him, the security guard gained access to his firearm and I heard two [shots]."
Police have not confirmed the witness details about the altercation.
The suspect was shot; the guard was otherwise injured. Both went to the hospital and are expected to survive.
When you're not safe at the door to a fortress like the Pioneer Courthouse at 6:30 on Monday morning, you sure as heck aren't safe on the streets down there at any time of day. It's a miracle that an innocent bystander didn't get hurt. Let's hope the guard is okay.
Was the perp high on drugs or just mentally ill. Either way, I don’t think his condition could be cured by low rent housing.
ReplyDeleteThe perp defiantly need mental health counseling if the lead injections fail.
ReplyDeletePerp just needs some meth, a few clean needles and some peer counseling.
ReplyDeleteThe guard should get life in front of a firing squad.
It’s the Portland Way.
Think of the economic possibilities that the courthouse could bring to the city. They could sell tickets for Pioneer Square seating, and hold a WWE style match.
ReplyDelete“Watch the almost real life struggle between good and evil, as The Gatekeeper battles Psycho to a near-death battle to see who gains control of The Golden Palace. You will be amazed by the realism, as Psycho and The Gatekeeper grapple for control of their destinies.”
The beatings will continue until morale improves. It's in your face for a reason.
ReplyDeleteWitch came first. Bad moral or the beatings.
DeleteCue the pdx greek chorus, "Did X, with a long history of battling mental illness and drug addiction, who was a great uncle/absentee dad and was just recently kind of, sort of, showing signs of turning his life around, deserve to die? When it was "The System" failed him?"
ReplyDelete