Man says police officers neglected his 911 call, causing him to get shot

By Adrian Thomas

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    PORTLAND Oregon (KPTV) — A Portland man who was shot last Friday is accusing Portland Police officers of leaving the scene of his stolen car, which the victim says caused one of the suspects who stole the car to come out of an apartment building and shoot him.

On Friday afternoon, a community meeting was held in Southeast Portland between several Chinese community groups, city officials, and representatives from the Portland Police Bureau.

The victim in this case, who is only being identified as Mr. Chen, is still recovering from several gunshot wounds in the hospital. PPB says officers got a call for reports of a shooting at about 9:30 p.m. last Friday, July 29, near SE 122 Avenue and Holgate. Friends and family of Chen say he was taken to the hospital and almost died.

At Friday’s meeting, those who know Chen say they want to bring community groups and city officials together to get to the bottom of what happened.

“We just want to send out the message to the police department to find out what is going on, and with the investigation, find out why this thing happened,” said Edward Chen, a friend of Chen’s for more than a decade.

Edward says Chen’s family is too afraid to return home after their car was stolen twice in a week and Chen almost lost his life last Friday.

“The family is feeling very scared, and the wife and son, they don’t want to stay at home now.”

Representatives for PPB and Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office were at the meeting. They said PPB is investigating the shooting, as well as the allegations from Mr. Chen saying that officers were dismissive of his safety concerns after the initial call for the stolen car. A spokesperson for PPB sent a statement to FOX 12 saying they’ve heard the concerns of Chen and his friends and family:

We have reassured them that it is being fully investigated. While we cannot provide specifics due to the ongoing investigation by the enhanced community safety team, rest assured that PPB lives by our organization’s values of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, excellence, and service.

Chen’s lawyer, Simon Whang, says he is determined to figure out why his client almost lost his life after making a call to report his stolen car.

“He’s been shot several times and he’s very lucky to be alive,” said Whang “We’re looking forward to working with the police and furthering this investigation.

There is still no word yet on the whereabouts of the suspect or suspects who shot Mr. Chen, and PPB says the case is still being investigated including the interaction between Chen and police.

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