Witness: Man shot by PSU police tried to stop fight
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A witness to a fatal shooting in Portland says officers shot a man who tried to break up a fight.
The gunfire happened early Friday outside the Cheerful Tortoise, a sports bar near Portland State University.
Video sent by a bystander to KOIN-TV shows university officers at the scene of a fight involving several men. During the scuffle, someone yelled that there wasa a gun. Then shots were fired.
Witness Keyaira Smith tells KGW-TV the man who died was trying to de-escalate the fight. While doing so, a gun holstered on his hip fell out. He went to pick it up and was shot.
The Portland Police Bureau is handling the investigation. Sgt. Chris Burley confirms that university officers responded to a disturbance outside the bar. He has not provided details about how the shooting unfolded.
The names of the officer and the person killed have not been released.
Against the objection of protesters, the Portland State University Board of Trustees voted in 2015 to have campus officers carry firearms.
