Police have arrested a man they say attacked people with a handsaw in a Portland laundromat.
Shane Green, a 58-year-old man, has been charged with multiple counts of assault, strangulation, harassment, menacing, interfering with a peace officer, and reckless endangering. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.
Police said he walked into a Portland laundromat with a handsaw on July 17 and attacked two women before fleeing on foot. Surveillance video of the attack in the laundromat has been released. Portland police responded to 911 callers who reported that a suspect had assaulted people, made threats against other people, and smashed car windows.
They caught up with him nearby, and he was shot by police with nonlethal ammunition after refusing to drop the handsaw and was arrested, according to KATU 2 News.
In their conversation with the suspect leading up to the arrest, some bystanders reportedly taunted the officers, making the situation tenser.
“Officers frequently deescalate situations such as this,” said Deputy Chief Chris Davis in a press release.
“It is unfortunate that some community members chose to try to escalate the situation. These incidents seldom make the headlines but illustrate the excellent training and restraint officers use to deescalate a person intent on forcing officers to use lethal force.”
The relationship between law enforcement and residents has become increasingly strained in Portland following protests and riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death on May 25. Just this week, rioters cornered Department of Homeland Security officers inside a building and tried to light the building on fire.
Last month, the Portland City Council voted to slash the police department’s budget by $15 million.
