Two people were hospitalized Thursday afternoon after a shooting involving federal agents in Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood, according to Portland Police Bureau.
Portland police said officers were dispatched at 2:18 p.m. to the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street on a report of a shooting. Officers confirmed that federal agents had been involved, police said, and emphasized that Portland officers were not involved in the incident.
U.S. officials later described the encounter as a Border Patrol vehicle stop. Agents were conducting what the agency called a targeted stop at 2:19 p.m. PST when the driver tried to run over law enforcement personnel after agents identified themselves, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DHS said an agent fired what it described as a defensive shot. The driver then fled with the passenger, the agency said.
In its statement, DHS said the passenger was the target of the stop and described the person as a Venezuelan national in the United States illegally whom the agency alleged is affiliated with the Tren de Aragua prostitution ring and involved in a recent Portland shooting. DHS said the driver is believed to be a member of Tren de Aragua. DHS said the situation was evolving and more information would be released.
At 2:24 p.m., police said they received information that a man who had been shot was calling for help near Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside Street. Officers found a man and a woman with what police described as apparent gunshot wounds. Officers applied a tourniquet and summoned emergency medical personnel. Both were taken to a hospital, and their conditions were not known late Thursday, police said.
Portland police said the two people were injured in the shooting involving federal agents and that investigators secured both the Main Street and Burnside scenes while the case is reviewed. East Burnside Street was closed westbound between Northeast 145th Avenue and Northeast 148th Avenue, police said.
“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Chief Bob Day said, as quoted by Portland Police Bureau. He urged residents to remain calm as investigators work to learn more, noting heightened tension in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting.
The Portland shooting came a day after ICE personnel were involved in a shooting in Minneapolis that resulted in a woman’s death, according to Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
It also lands amid renewed friction between Portland and the Trump administration. A recent federal court fight over proposed National Guard deployments has included proceedings tied to Portland, with a Supreme Court filing noting an injunction related to federalizing the Oregon National Guard for Portland, according to U.S. Supreme Court docket filing.
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