Portland police identify, arrest suspect in shooting of two officers
By Anthony Macuk, KGW
PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) -- Portland police said Monday they have arrested a man suspected of shooting two police officers in the Lloyd District on a week ago, leaving both of them hospitalized.
The man was the subject of an ongoing search effort for the past week and was arrested in a "tactical operation" around 7 a.m. Monday in the 6400 block of Northeast 82nd Avenue, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau. Police said the man was taken into custody without incident and taken to the Central Precinct building to be questioned by detectives.
In a news conference Monday afternoon, officials identified the suspect as 41-year-old Eric Floyd Oelkers. After being questioned, he was booked into Multnomah County jail on two counts each of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon, according to PPB public information manager Mike Benner.
Benner added that after the arrest, police searched the area and found a gun that they believe was the one used in the Jan. 19 shooting.
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said Oelkers would be arraigned at some point in the following 24 hours, and that the DA's office would seek to have him held without bail.
The 6400 block, where police stopped Oelkers, is in a stretch of 82nd Avenue between Northeast Columbia Boulevard and Northeast Alderwood Road, south of the Portland International Airport campus. Police had previously announced just before 6 a.m. that the same stretch of road was shut down in both directions, but didn't say why. They began reopening the road at around 7:45 am.
Oelkers has a prior criminal history, and his Multnomah County jail booking record on Monday also listed charges of robbery, theft and menacing as part of a separate open criminal case.
Court records show that Oelkers had, in fact, two open arrest warrants, the first stemming from a criminal mischief and bias crime case from 2021. In Dec. 2020, Oelkers allegedly vandalized a Black-owned restaurant in Salem called Epilogue Kitchen & Cocktails, known at the time for sporting "Black Lives Matter" and related slogans. The same restaurant was repeatedly targeted by white nationalists and other far-right groups over a period of several years.
In December of 2022, Oelkers skipped bail and a judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
By that time, had already been arrested and charged for another crime. According to court documents, he robbed Consolidated Community Credit Union on Northeast Sandy, handing a teller a note saying that he had a gun. He was eventually handed just under $3,500 and a tracking device, a probable cause affidavit states, which allowed police to quickly catch up with him.
Oelkers was charged in the second case with second-degree robbery, first-degree theft and menacing. But an arrest warrant had to be issued in this case as well when Oelkers failed to appear in court.
Until his arrest Monday, Oelkers does not appear in court records after late 2022.
The Jan. 19 shooting happened at around 9 p.m. when the two officers responded to a report that a man had threatened someone with a knife near Northeast 17th Avenue and Northeast Clackamas Street, according to information released by PPB last week. Police said the suspect opened fire when the officers arrived, then fled on foot.
One officer was hit twice and the other was hit once, and both were hospitalized. Police have not disclosed their identities or exact nature of their injuries, although Portland Police Association president Aaron Schmautz described the injuries on Monday as "grievous."
One of the officers was released on Tuesday, and the other was released by Monday afternoon, according to PPB.
The surrounding blocks were closed down for several hours following the shooting while police unsuccessfully searched the area for the suspect. Police released multiple photos of the suspect over the course of last week, asking for the public to help identify him and determine his whereabouts.
Officials said on Friday that they had received more than 180 tips, and Benner said on Monday that community tips played a critical role in identifying and locating the suspect. PPB Detective Sgt. Matt Jacobsen later said that one of the tips was from someone in the area near where Oelkers was arrested, who told police they had seen someone potentially matching the suspect's description.Close Ad
