Federal immigration agents shoot 2 in Portland

Federal Customs and Border Protection agents shot a man and a woman in Portland on Thursday afternoon, according to local and federal officials.

Two people, who were reportedly married, were shot near an Adventist Health Portland clinic building. Their conditions weren’t known Thursday evening.

Portland police officers responded to reports of a shooting around 2:18 p.m. on Southeast Main Street and confirmed federal agents had been involved in the incident, police Chief Bob Day said at a news conference. About six minutes later, officers received a dispatch that a man who had been shot was calling and requesting help in the area of Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside Street, about 3 miles from the shooting scene.

Police found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. The officers applied a tourniquet to at least one person and requested emergency medical personnel, who took the two to a hospital.

The investigation is being led by the FBI, and Portland police are at the scene, Day said. At the news conference, Day stressed the investigation had just begun, and they didn’t know many details, including whether the initial incident started as an “immigration-related event.”

“It’s a complex situation with a lot of different information coming out,” Day said.

Day, along with Portland, Multnomah County and Oregon leaders, also called for federal immigration agencies to leave the city, and for residents to remain calm during heightened emotion and tension following the fatal shooting Wednesday in Minneapolis involving an ICE agent.

“Just one day after the horrific violence in Minnesota, our community here in Portland was witness to a moment of fear, confusion and heartbreak,” Mayor Keith Wilson said. He called for ICE to halt all operations in Portland until an independent investigation is completed.

“There was a time when we could take them at their word,” Wilson said. “That time is long past. … Our community deserves answers.”

In a statement posted shortly before 5 p.m., the Department of Homeland Security said that Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted stop on the vehicle, saying the passenger was in the U.S. illegally and was “involved in a recent shooting in Portland.”

The statement said the driver then “weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents” — similar to federal officials’ remarks about the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Making a nearly identical statement to ones made after Good’s killing, the Homeland Security statement said: “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot.” The car then drove away, according to the post.

Homeland Security said the driver was a member of “the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua,” an organization that’s become a major target of Trump’s immigration crackdown. The federal agency did not provide evidence of the gang affiliation and declined to respond to questions from The Seattle Times.

The FBI Portland field office said in a since-deleted post on X that it was investigating a shooting involving Customs and Border Protection agents, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The post confirmed two people were wounded.

Oregon state Sen. Kayse Jama, who lives in Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood, said he planned to introduce legislation limiting the impact of ICE in the community.

“We do not need you,” Jama said at a news conference in a message aimed at federal immigration agents. “You’re not welcome, and you need to get the hell out of our community.”

KATU reported that, as Portland officers cordoned off the scene of the shooting, a crowd grew around them shouting and cursing.

Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told reporters he was working “to get all the facts” about the shooting as the investigation was starting to unfold.

The shooting occurred near an Adventist Health Portland building that houses several clinics and offices, Adventist Health spokesperson Japhet De Oliveira said. The clinics in the building near the incident closed but Adventist Health Portland hospital remains open.

The Portland City Council abruptly recessed due to a security concern Thursday afternoon.

City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney interrupted the meeting by saying: “Councilors, we actually need to recess immediately.”

After the recess, Pirtle-Guiney said that as far as the council knew, the two people were alive.

A source told The Oregonian/OregonLive that city councilors were then informed, by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management deputy director, of a suspected shooting involving immigration enforcement agents.

Last fall, Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard troops in Portland, which he described as crime-ridden and overrun by “Antifa” and the “radical left.” The remaining troops were to be sent home, according to an announcement this week from U.S. Northern Command.

Seattle Times reporter Anumita Kaur contributed to this report.