PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – When Morgan Cho saw a stranger getting into his friend’s silver SUV Tuesday afternoon, he attempted to stop it. He then found himself fighting with the suspected thief in the street.
Morgan said he told the stranger to get out of the car, but the suspect – who has yet to be identified – instead took a swing at his face. When he got the stranger to the ground, he said he began to walk away as the man pulled out a gun.
“I turn back and he’s pointing a gun at me and a gunshot goes off,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t hear. Everything was ringing.”
Although Morgan managed to not get hit, surveillance cameras show the suspected thief ran to a getaway car that was heading in the same direction down Northeast 69th Street, away from Glisan Street.
Morgan’s father Sean Cho said he’s beside himself.
“I went into father mode and said ‘Why did you do something like that?'” Sean said. “How did we get to this point where we actually felt like we could take it in our own hands and actually try and apprehend somebody?
Morgan said this incident is an example of how brazen criminals have gotten. His girlfriend was on the phone with 911 immediately after the shooting, but he said he “didn’t see the police for 20-30 minutes” – so long that a homeless person took important evidence, like the suspect’s sweatshirt and tools.
PPB tells KOIN 6 they got to the scene about 10 minutes after the 911 call. The time difference likely varies because Morgan said an officer didn’t come straight to the Chos house, but first spoke to one of their neighbors.
But the Cho family said they are disappointed in PPB’s overall response to this shooting, saying they’ve had little follow up.
“We got one email message saying they’re working on the case and they have no leads,” Sean said. “It seems like it’s not a resources issue. It seems like a mentality issue.”
Former Oregon police chief Ron Louie, a PSU criminology professor, said there is “an erosion of trust in the police in many parts of our country.”
“The perception out there is great – that the police are now maybe punching us. ‘Okay? You want to defund, you don’t want more cops? Well, we’re not gonna come to your call,” he said.
Often he’s seen crimes where victims have hard proof — just like Morgan’s video – and “there’s no follow up or follow through.”
“That’s what people are frustrated with,” Louie said. “It’s a consequence of resources.”
Louie believes there needs to be a faster response time from PPB and greater investigative follow up. Although it takes a lot of investigative legwork, he says it pays true crime fighting dividends.
“If you focus on the smaller percentage of people who are committing the greater crime, you will have an impact,” Louie said. “But if you’re not even following through that one thief that tried to steal the car, do this and that, you think that’s his or her first time doing it? No, multiple crimes could be solved.”
PPB says they have been putting a lot of effort into stopping car thefts. On Saturday alone, Portland police made 33 stops, recovered 14 stolen cars and two guns, and arrested 11 people.
But without making meaningful relationships with crime victims, Louie says he’s not surprised to see the increase in private security in Portland – as well as people taking matters into their own hands.
“So you’re having people use force against each other, either suspects or victims. And you’re gonna see more and more of that,” he said.
Louie says the top priority is for officers to earn back people’s trust.
“You can even hire a whole bunch of cops. Go ahead,” he said. “But if people still feel a loss of trust or believe that their police aren’t gonna help them or or respond. So the answer: It takes time.”
In cities Portland’s size, Louie says it could take several years for police to regain the community’s confidence.
The Cho family said it will take time to recover from this incident.
“I would not do that again,” Morgan said. “My own life, someone else’s life, is worth more than trying to go stop something yourself.”