PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man who took a woman hostage and was shot to death by Portland police is a 30-year-old man who had been taken to hospitals “multiple times” by officers for treatment of mental illness.
Samuel E. Rice died at the Del Rancho Motel on SE 82nd after a fight at a nearby 7-Eleven before he took the hostage, police said. The fight happened around 9 a.m. Wednesday and witnesses said he had a knife.
He was spotted going into the Del Rancho Motel and officers determined he was holding a woman hostage and threatening to kill her.
As the SERT and Crisis Negotiation Teams arrived, one officer fired one shot and killed Rice. That officer, Kelly VanBlokland, is a 24-year-veteran of the PPB currently assigned to the Training Division and is a detached member of the Special Emergency Reaction Team, authorities said.
VanBlokland is on paid administrative leave, standard procedure in these incidents.
Investigators said Rice has recently been contacted by PPB’s Behavioral Health Unit, which tried connect Rice and his girlfriend to services.
Rice declined the help, officials said. But they “have transported Rice to area hospitals on multiple occasions in the past for treatment of perceived mental illness.”
The investigation continues into the overall aspects of the case.
There are no reports of anyone else being hurt and the woman held hostage is going to be OK, officials said.