Police have identified a person of interest after shots were fired late Sunday night into the Portland police station’s parking garage by someone inside a vehicle.
Portland police Lt. Robert Martin said no one was injured about 10:30 p.m. when several shots were fired into the Middle Street garage.
One officer was inside at the time of the shooting, Martin said.
Police found a handgun discarded near the scene and stopped a “dark sedan” linked to the person of interest early Monday morning, Chief Frank Clark said during a press conference Monday. Police are not releasing information about the suspect and are obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle believed to be connected to the incident.
Clark called the incident at the station “personal” during the press conference, linking it to local and national criticism sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement and directed toward police for the killings of unarmed Black Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
A local push to reduce police funding and reallocate it to social service professionals has gained traction since the movement began, fueled by reports of racial disparities in police arrests and use of force statistics. Portland police have also received renewed criticism for the fatal shootings of David Okot, a Sudanese immigrant, in 2009 and Chance David Baker in 2017.
City councilors proposed a mayor-appointed committee to study racism in policing and the School Board removed school resource officers from public high schools last week.
Clark said police have been “targeted for wearing a badge” and “broadly and directly vilified based on the actions of a few” in the past several weeks.
He added that the department will look to “improve policies, practices and training” and that he “understands the anger directed toward police in general” and “condemns the actions” of officers in high profile police brutality cases.
The investigation is ongoing, Clark said.
BDN writer Christopher Burns contributed to this report.