Police, CERT arrest Portland murder suspect living in NW Bend home
(Update: Adding details from Portland police)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Bend police and Central Oregon’s SWAT Team swept into a northwest Bend neighborhood late Saturday night and arrested a Bend resident wanted on a murder charge in last month’s shooting death of a Sacramento man outside a southeast Portland nightclub, police said.
Bend police were contacted on Saturday by Portland Police Bureau homicide detectives and learned a person wanted in a Portland homicide investigation was living in Bend, at a home in the 1700 block of Northwest Ninth Street, Sgt. Rob Emerson said.
Police learned Thomas Earl Cooper Jr., 32, had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a second-degree murder charge.
He’s accused of shooting and killing Tyrell Penney, 27, of Sacramento on July 25 outside a club on Southeast Division Street. Portland police said a second victim was shot and is still recovering.
Penney was in Portland visiting relatives when he was shot, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force located Cooper in Bend, Portland police said.
Based on the risk level, the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team was asked to assist in Cooper’s arrest, Emerson said. A search warrant for the home also was obtained.
Just before midnight, the CERT team was able to contact Cooper at the home and was taken into custody without incident.
Emerson said Cooper was released to Portland Police Bureau detectives to complete the investigation. Cooper was being held without bail at the Deschutes County Jail on Sunday morning on an out-of-county warrant.
Oregon online court records Sunday did not yet show a murder charge against Cooper.
But Portland-area news reports last year said he also was arrested in February 2019 while working out at a southeast Portland gym on an out-of-state warrant in a Lakewood, Washington homicide case. Police said they found a loaded handgun in his locker.
Court records show he pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a loaded firearm in a public place. He later was released after posting 10% of his $10,000 bail.
