PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The man shot by Portland police during their response to an armed break-in Sunday afternoon is in critical condition but is expected to survive.
Michael Shawn Harrison, 47, is the burglary suspect who was shot several times and cut himself on his arms and abdomen, officials said Monday afternoon.
The incident in the 3900 block of Southeast 14th Avenue began around 2:15 p.m. Sunday after a resident called 911 about the man cutting himself. He reportedly was armed with a steak knife and was upset over a pending divorce.
But he left that house and fled on foot.
Soon another 911 caller in the 1500 block of SE Boise Street said the man broke into her home, forcing her and her two children to hide from the knife-wielding suspect.
The woman later told investigators Harrison asked, “Are the children home?”
Police were able to safely get the woman and her children out of the house.
“When they started screaming at each other, I don’t know if they were outside or inside, but it sounded like they were right here,” neighbor Krystina Cruikshank told KOIN 6 News on Sunday.
But then, authorities said, Harrison left the house and charged the officer. A less-lethal round from a shotgun, fired by Sgt. Martin Padilla, did not stop his advance and when he got too close, Officer Raelynn McKay fired her handgun.
“The subject became very close to one of our officers and she was forced to use her firearm to defend herself,” Sgt. Greg Stewart said on Sunday.
Harrison kept running after the shots were fired and “slammed into the side of a house in the 4200 block of SE 15th Avenue,” police said in a release.
He left his first knife in the house on SE 15th Street and picked up a different knife that he held when he charged police, investigators said.
The investigation continues. Officer McKay and Sgt. Padilla have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, standard procedure in similar cases.