The Oregon State Medical Examiner has identified 27-year-old Patrick K. Kimmons as the victim of yesterday's fatal police shooting in downtown Portland.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, the two officers who fired at Kimmons early Sunday morning believed he had been involved in a nearby shooting that left two people injured. Those officers are Sergeant Garry Britt, a ten-year PPB veteran, and Officer Jeffrey Livingston, a one-and-a-half-year veteran of the Bureau. Britt has fired his gun at suspects in the past, including a man who aimed a rifle at Britt and another police officer in 2013.
Britt is also the first officer who interacted with John Elifritz on April 7, the day Elifritz was fatally shot by PPB officers in a Southeast homeless shelter. Britt responded to a 911 call Elifritz had made earlier that day, falsely claiming his family had been murdered at a house in Southeast Portland. In his testimony given to a Multnomah County grand jury, Britt said he tracked Elifritz down on SE Holgate Ave and tried to talk to him, but Elifritz said he didn't want to talk and flashed a knife. Britt said that's when he decided not to engage with Elifritz and instead forwarded his name to PPB's Behavioral Health Unit for a future check-in. (Of course, that check-in never happened.)
In a media release, PPB spokesperson Natasha Haunsperger says Britt and Livingston will be interviewed by PPB detectives later today. Both officers have been put on paid administrative leave until a grand jury decides whether the officers will be criminally charged for the shooting.
Two other police officers and "numerous community members" have been interviewed as witnesses. PPB says they also have a video of the incident.
Kimmons's family and friends, along with members of Don't Shoot Portland, are holding a vigil tonight at the site of Kimmons deathâthe corner of SW 3rd and Harvey Milk (formerly Stark). Kimmons mother, Letha Winston, has created an online fundraiser to pay for the cost of Kimmons's funeral, or "home going."
"I don't know how to go on, I don't know how to begin to accept this," Winston posted on the GoFundMe page. "It kills me my son did not threaten the life or welfare of any of the 3 officers but was still murdered as he ran away! What happen[ed] to getting arrested? What['s] wrong with due process, or the judicial system?"
According to his Facebook profile, Kimmons worked for Dave's Killer Bread and had three young children.
Don't Shoot Portland will hold a rally at the memorial site on Saturday, October 6.
