PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The officer and deputy who shot and killed a suspected bank robber in Gresham earlier this week have been identified.
Gresham Police Officer Mark Smith and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Phifer were named as the two men who fired the fatal shots off at the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Roman Ivan Kokhanevych.
Investigators said the suspect fired first after robbing Key Bank on Southeast Burnside Street at gunpoint and leading law enforcement on a chaotic car chase through East County on Tuesday. The chase ended in the Gresham Station shopping mall parking lot where police said the suspected robber and a female accomplice carjacked another driver.
It was then that Officer Smith and Deputy Phifer fired shots off — killing Kokhanevych.
“While he was driving, the suspect shot a number of times at the responding officers,” Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese said.
Gresham PD says both Smith and Phifer have been placed on paid critical incident leave, which is standard protocol for both agencies.
Sheriff Reese says authorities believe Kokhanevych was involved in other bank robberies in the Portland metro area.
Police have also arrested the accomplice, identified on Wednesday as Haley Hop. She was charged with first- and second-degree robbery and faced court for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, where she entered a not guilty plea.
Records say that Hop admitted she was the driver and that it was her husband who police shot and killed. She self-reported that she is a frequent heroin and meth user, is unemployed and on food stamps with a 3-year-old son at home.
No one else was hurt during this incident, police said.