UPDATE 9:57 PM: Portland police are now saying they have caught the person who allegedly shot the victim outside Club 915 early this morning. From the PPB:
31-year-old Kevin Charles Moffett has been charged with Murder in connection with the death of the 32-year-old male homicide victim found outside the downtown club. Moffett has been lodged in the downtown Multnomah County Facility.
Also, although the name of the victim has not been released, in a tweet issued earlier today, Mayor Sam Adams referred to the victim as a "bouncer."
Very tragic: bouncer shot/killed last night SW 2nd/Taylort: If you have info on the crime: Dets. Rico (503) 823-0457 @portlandpolice #Pdx
Expect more info tomorrow!
UPDATE 10:48 AM: This is Denis chiming in here. I just talked to police spokesman Sergeant Pete Simpson and asked a few more questions about the murky sequence of events laid out in the cops' release on this morning's fatal shooting and how the investigation is proceeding.
Simpson confirms that, as of at least right now, "there's only one victim" and that detectives are still trying to answer several questions, including why one of the responding police officers wound up firing his gun amid the chaos outside Club 915 and "what, if anything, was struck" when the officer fired.
"The only shooting victim we have is the deceased male," Simpson says. "He was down on the ground when the officers arrived. They heard the shots and saw the man down.... As for the specifics of what the officer [who later fired his gun] did, we just don't know."
That means two investigations are unfolding in tandem: the first on the fight and the fatal shooting outside the club, and the second on the officer's firing of his weapon later. It's possible police could still find another victim as they try to make sense of a giant crime scene. Several people were detained after the fight, and Simpson says more than a dozen witnesses have been interviewed so far.
Original post starts here:
A large section of downtown Portland is currently blocked off as a crime scene in the wake of a shooting that occurred in the early hours of New Years day. The incident started with an alleged fight outside Club 915 (915 SW Taylor) around 1:30 am. One officer said he heard gunshots fired, while another found a gunshot victim in the vicinity of SW 2nd and Taylor. According to the most recent report from the PPB, "In the course of interacting with persons associated with the shooting, the [second] officer discharged his firearm." We don't know at this point if anyone was hit by the officer's shot. The man found earlier on the ground has since died from his injuries.
It sounds like it was quite the melee:
Officers on scene reported seeing several hundred people exiting the club and in the street at the time of the shooting. Police officers from East, Central and North Precincts, the Traffic Division and Gang Enforcement all responded to assist with crowd management and to secure a crime scene.
At this hour, quite a lot of downtown real estate is still closed down to all cars and pedestrians—roughly the area encompassing SW 1st to 4th Ave, Main to Yamhill—as police are continuing their investigation.
If you were on the scene, and have any further info, email us here! Until then, MORE DETAILS TO COME! (And oh... Happy New Year.)