Fight over headphones leads to gunfire in SE Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. - Police are asking for the public's help to identify a man who fired a gun near a MAX platform in Southeast Portland Thursday night.
Just after 9:30 p.m., Portland police and transit officers responded to the MAX platform at Southeast Foster Road and Interstate 205 after learning that a man had threatened another man with a gun.
As police were en route, they received additional information that there may have been shots fired and a man hit with gunfire before the suspect rode away on a bicycle.
Officers arrived and found the victim, 28-year-old Joshua Smith, who told police he was not shot, but did cut himself during a struggle with the suspect.
Smith said he was seated on the west side of the platform waiting for the MAX train when the suspect rode up on a bicycle and asked to listen to his headphones. When Smith refused, that's when things changed.
"He had a gun in his waist," Smith said. "He pulls out a gun - it was a revolver with a six-inch barrel. He goes 'I really think you should let me listen to that.' That's when I decided sitting on this isn't the best situation. I'm pretty vulnerable here."
Smith said the suspect fired about five shots - some into the air and some towards the MAX train (TriMet could not confirm that shots were fired at the train).
Smith said he then grabbed onto the suspect and they struggled to the ground, where Smith cut his arm.
The suspect then got up and left the area on a bicycle. He was last seen heading southbound on Southeast 92nd Avenue.
Suspect Description
- Hispanic male in his mid-20s
- Was wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, and a black baseball hat that was on backwards
- Was riding a black BMX bicycle
Tips
Portland police are asking for anyone with information to contact robbery detectives at (503) 823-0405.
Too bad Joshua Smith couldn't have drug his assailant over and tossed him in front of an arriving train.
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I really enjoyed seeing how many people rushed in to assist.
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"Smith described that man as a white man in his mid 20s." on KPTV
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KATU viewers are looking for a Hispanic person... good luck with that.
This 'story' isn't even worth wasting TV time on - at least in the way it's being covered.
Let's see here:::::looking for shell casings?? The reported pistol was a revolver which doesn't eject a spent shell casing!! I can't waste any more time on this one!
DING DONG!!! This guy is a wanna be, he is more of a threat than the bad guy.......Go home and let the REAL police take care of the situations!
This story stinks. And the rat I smell is this Joshua Smith person. First of all...who in their right mind deems themself as some kind of "bad guy avenger"??? (As he stated on the news but not in this article). If he was shot, or even killed, people would be all over him as being this hapless victim...woe is me. There have been lots of liars showing up...and I do believe he's one of them. Just a publicity seeker, for whatever reason who knows. Are you really going to go look for the bad guys wearing and using something they all want? Where's the supposed witness? Sorry...his telling of this story is all too dramatic and I don't believe it.Â
Surely it didn't involve Max; must be a mistake! LOL
Man, it must've been nice headphones. I hope it wasn't those jay-z headphones though; those are completely overrated.
More crime courtesy of Tri-Met.
 @Beergod The mall kills people. Also the movie theater.
@Beergod MAX isn't responsible for this one. It was merely the location of the attack. It could have easily happened on a side street, as the suspect didn't appear to have intended to use MAX at all.
 @Beergod Tri-Met doesn't kill people, people kill people.
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You must not be a gun rights type. ;>
Open carry a firearm. Just in case you are ever in a gunfight, you will now be prepared to fight back. Very nice the man who faught back!!
 @Jeremy Krohn I carry concealed on Max, but, listen:
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Going out and buying a gun and carrying it openly doesn't prepare you for a gun fight. That takes training, education, practice and significant mental preparation.
@Dienekes4160 @Jeremy Krohn Absolutely! I worded that wrong. Training is everything, just open carry is legal therefore if you don't have the money to get a CHL you can still carry. I personally CC everywhere I go, (as long as it's legal) and train with my firearms 3 times a week.
Years ago, before I got a real career, I was an armed security guard. I was told I had to get an UNconcealed weapon permit to work in the City of Portland. I had to appear at Chief Bruce Baker's office to apply for it. I'm not sure whether Portland still has that ordinance about needing a permit to carry a firearm in plain sight.
Absolutely. Even policemen (and policewomen, with a nod to PC) get agitated in situations in which firearms are needed. Even with all the training, their shots regularly miss the target. For example, you need only look to the recent incident outside the Empire State Building. The two cops did, in fact, take down the perp, but nine other people were wounded--all by the police. An untrained gunslinger is as likely to blow off his own leg or kill a bystander as to shoot some miscreant. (This is NOT some anti-gun screed, here. I am just agreeing that people must get training if they want to carry a weapon.)
Now thats Pathetic. Trying to kill someone over headphones. This person needs to be caught fast. The next person might not be so lucky. KUDOS to the persn who faught back.
 @cpt.iceman Agreed! (Fought.... only pointed out the spelling because the person after you spelled it "faught" also, and KATU gets hacked on for every minor mistake.) We have to guard our society against developing a victim mentality. I'm not a fan of MAX, but, if crime is a problem on it, we shouldn't do away with MAX, we should turn the screws on the people who abuse it or commit crimes against the population on it.  Of course, I'm a fan of public flogging and/or crucifixion so, we may differ a LITTLE on that.
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 @Rey Arteb On July 4 a white woman I know in Dundee, along with her children, were murdered by their father/husband because she was trying to get out of an abusive relationship.
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I would like to know whether you think that's representative of a certain "culture" the way this appears to be representative of some other "culture."Â
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@Rey Arteb  The father was white. His family had been here for multiple generations (parents, grandparents, great grandparents all born and raised in the US).
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Acutally, if we want to play the 'culture' game.  What 'culture' do you suppose has the highest incidence of father killing mother and children? Hmmm... let me see..... oh... right......White US Born American men. FACT
@Dienekes4160 @Rey Arteb Why is it important that you mention the woman is white?
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 @FreerideNOT As I mentioned above, a white man in Dundee murdered his family (didn't another white guy out toward Beaverton do that recently too, and kill an innocent person along the way) and then took a picture of it and posted it to her friends on Facebook.Â
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Between him and Christian Longo types we have a pattern of behavior so, would you say that's "must be the way they do things in the 'American' country these killers crawled out from...
Again, why is it important to note that these people were white?
@Rey Arteb @mister @Mechanic ONCE??? Rey....the vast majority of familicide is commited by white American born and raised men. FACT
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@Mechanic why is it important to mention the suspect in this CURRENT story was hispanic?