Threats to Trump preceded fatal shooting by Portland officers of man who impersonated federal agent, police say

A man who was shot and killed by police Thursday morning had attempted to shoot a grocery store security guard the previous Saturday, falsely identified himself as an agent from the United States Secret Service and written threats against President Donald Trump, the Portland Police Bureau said in a news release.

Just after 1 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to a Safeway in the 1300 block of Northwest Lovejoy Street after reports that the man, who has not yet been identified by police, had pointed a handgun at a uniformed security officer and pulled the trigger, though the gun didn’t fire.

The man fled with the handgun, but left behind an instrument case that contained a loaded shotgun, police said. The shotgun shells had “threatening messages” written on them that specifically named Trump, police said.

Officers did not locate the man on Saturday, but after working with the U.S. Secret Service, they identified a suspect and determined he lived in an apartment in the 1600 block of Northwest 14th Avenue.

At about 5:15 a.m. on Thursday, Portland police officers attempted to arrest the man. After arriving at his apartment, they announced they were with Portland police, ordered him to come out with his hands empty and warned that force may be used, according to the release.

The man did not respond and negotiations were unsuccessful as officers could not communicate with him.

Officers then evacuated the entire floor and after about 35 minutes, they deployed tear gas, which caused the suspect to emerge, holding a handgun, police said.

Two Portland police officers fired at the man, who they said pointed the handgun at one of the officers.

Police said they could see the handgun was next to the man and asked him to move, but when he did not, they called paramedics. Paramedics determined the man was dead, police said. No one else was injured.