PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Portland police officer is on administrative leave and a woman is behind bars after a domestic disturbance late Wednesday night led to the officer firing his gun when the woman charged at them.
The incident at the Stacy Lee Apartments, 141 NE 147th Avenue, unfolded around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, police said. When officers arrived they contacted several people they said were involved in the dispute.
Victor Noyola, who lives at the apartment with his cousin Anita Ruiz — the suspect — told KOIN 6 News there was a disagreement with Anita’s niece and her boyfriend, so he said he kicked them out.
Noyola said Anita and her niece “started to argue back and forth and then it just got a little more out of hand.”
He added they wouldn’t leave and then there was pounding on the front door. He said he thought it was them but instead it was the police.
Noyola said Anita was “coming towards” the police and had something in her hand.
“I don’t know, honestly,” Noyola said. “I just knew she had something. I don’t know exactly what she had.”
Ruiz had a knife and charged at the officers, police said. As she advanced with the knife, an officer fired his gun one time.
No one was hurt.
Ruiz, 34, was arrested without incident. She’s being held in the Multnomah County Jail on charges of menacing and unlawful use of a weapon.
PPB Sgt. Chris Burley said the bullet from the officer’s gun hit the wall and did not leave the apartment. “The bullet hit an inside apartment wall,” he said.
The apartment manager confirmed that information to KOIN 6 News.
“He shot in towards the inside of the house,” Noyola said. “I thought he was shooting Anita and she did have some object in her hand, but I don’t know if it was the right decision to just shoot at somebody. I mean, that just doesn’t seem right.”
Burley told KOIN 6 News the officer will be interviewed through Internal Affairs within 48 hours, but details of that interview will not be shared until after the separate criminal investigation is completed.
“It stays within the Internal Affairs division until after this investigation has gone through the criminal proceedings involving the Multnomah County DA’s Office,” he said. Homicide detectives and the Multnomah County DA’s Office are investigating the case.
Asked if he knew what the officer’s intentions were or if he intentionally missed her, Burley said he couldn’t answer.
“That’s something I can’t answer at this time, but as we go through all of the criminal investigations and the Internal Affairs investigation and the training review, that’s something we’ll be looking at,” he told KOIN 6 News.
“I think that he saw it, he had it happen quickly, he knew that he didn’t say ‘Halt,’ nothing like that, ‘Police,’ and then he realized it’s not a dangerous situation and shot downwards,” Noyola said. “That’s how I think it happened.”
Noyola told KOIN 6 News he wasn’t mad, “just frustrated with how it all went down. Because she’s going to get charged and I don’t think it’s fair because I think a bad situation turned into a bad situation.”
Police identified the officer who fired the shot as Onest Robert, a six-year veteran with the Portland Police Bureau. Robert will remain on paid administrative leave until the investigation is done and his name will be released as a matter of PPB policy.
KOIN 6 News reporter Elise Haas contributed to this report.
Watch earlier coverage of the officer-involved shooting