Skip to main content
The Portland Police Bureau has released the names of the seven officers and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputy who fired at a man in a southeast homeless shelter on April 7.
Officers Richard Bailey, Justin Damerville, Kameron Fender, Alexandru Martiniuc, Bradley Nutting, Chad Phifer, Andrew Polas, and Deputy Aaron Sieczkowski are on paid administrative leave while the law enforcement agencies investigate the shooting.
Several of the officers have a notable history of using force.
The U.S. Justice Department named Phifer in a 2012 review of excessive use of force on people struggling with mental illness. Phifer was mentioned for a 2010 incident where he used a taser and punched an unarmed man who was lying on the ground after mental health workers called for assistance during a welfare check.
Polas was among the officers who killed Keaton Otis, a black man, after Otis shot another officer in May 2010. Otis died at the scene.
Nutting had previously been scrutinized for excessive use of force after hitting a man on a bicycle with a taser six times in 15 seconds in 2014. Damerville once arrested a woman for spitting on the sidewalk.
The officers and deputy opened fire April 7 on a man apparently in the midst of a mental health crisis, after he allegedly refused to drop a knife. John Andrew Elifritz, a 48-year-old dockworker, had previously encountered Portland police that afternoon but officers decided not to pursue him after he threatened to cut his own throat and then fled.
PPB delayed the release of the officers names for two days because of threats against officers.
"Investigators from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and the Portland Police Bureau worked to verify if any actual threats existed, but ultimately could not locate any credible information," spokesman Sgt. Christopher Burley said in a statement.