By Tony Hernandez
The Oregonian
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland police emergency and crisis teams have taken a suspect into custody after a man barricaded himself inside a burning Southeast Portland home Wednesday morning.
Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson at a news conference just before noon said police initially responded to reports of a disturbance near Southeast 127th Avenue and Rhone Street about 10 a.m. Officers noticed smoke coming out of the house.
Simpson said conversations have led police to believe the man may be linked to a stabbing at approximately 8 a.m. Wednesday morning in the area that injured a person. The location of the stabbing was unknown.
Police spokesman describes barricaded man in burning home
The Portland Fire Bureau was called, and firefighters opened the burning garage. They encountered an agitated man who lunged at them, Simpson said. It was unclear if the man had a weapon.
Fire Deputy Chief Dan Buckner said the man would not leave the house, so crews pulled back.
An officer at the scene at about 1 p.m. said the suspect had been taken into custody.
“They got him out safely and took him into custody,” Simpson said. The unidentified suspect was taken to the hospital because “he’d been in there for a couple hours, so at the very least for smoke inhalation.”
The Special Emergency Reaction Team and the Crisis Negotiation Team were called in to the “tactical incident,” according to a Portland Police Bureau news release, and are assisting East Precinct officers.
Police officials said they worked with residents to secure the area. Neighbors were cleared, Simpson said. The standoff was provided extra challenges because of the combined fire and tactical need.
Kenna Gatten lives across the street from the house and arrived home just after her next-door neighbor, who was babysitting Gatten’s children, heard an explosion, she said.
“They were like -- the windows shook,’” Gatten said. “‘The house shook. Everything vibrated. She said, ‘I don’t know what happened. I looked out the window and seen smoke.’”
Gattan described the property as a main house with a large garage that’s converted into a home where the property owner’s son lives. After speaking with the residents, Gattan said there was a gathering recently where a visitor cut a man in the neck with a box cutter.
That’s the man that barricaded himself inside, Gattan said. Police have said the stabbing victim is expected to survive.
Simpson said he could not confirm the stabbing took place at the same location. He said he could provide an update later Wednesday.
Gatten, 26, has lived in her home for 20 years. She said she knew the people living in the garage unit kept gunpowder. After speaking with the property owners, Gattan said she believes the man inside could have made a pipe bomb that detonated inside.
Simpson could not confirm there was a bomb detonated inside the garage unit or that gunpowder was used.
“There was an explosion of some sort, and the fire investigators ultimately will have to determine what that was,” Simpson said.
The incident has created two collaborative investigations, an assault that will be looked into by police and an arson lead by fire investigators, Simpson said.
Gatten calls the burned garage unit a complete loss.
“There is nothing savable or salvageable,” she said.
Gattan and Jack Newberry, who lives on Southeast 128th Avenue, both call the garage unit a known drug spot for users. Newberry sees a steady flow of people visiting the home every day.
“They’re not so much strangers when they walk up and down your street five times a day,” Newberry said. “You try and get to learn the people that come up and down the street, especially when they’re eyeballing your yard every time they pass.”
Gatten said she tries to be friendly with her neighbors in the garage unit but she’s not happy with the situation.
“We will say hi when we pass, but it’s just — they’re not my friends,” she said. “They’re not buddies, and I’d rather not have them here. That’s for sure.”
Copyright 2016 The Oregonian