Court documents reveal moments before Portland Police officers were shot

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — New details have been revealed about the two Portland Police officers who were shot by a suspect while responding to a 9-1-1 call in Northeast Portland on Jan. 9.

READ MORE | Suspect caught a week after shooting of 2 Portland Police officers

According to court documents, the officers located the suspect, now identified as Eric Oelkers, after he allegedly threatened a man with a knife. According to investigators, bodycam footage recorded the interactions between Oelkers and the two officers. KATU has not yet obtained that body camera footage.

According to police, during their interaction, the two officers asked Oelkers to place his hands on his head. Oelkers reportedly said he would not. The documents describe how Oelkers reached toward his right hip, which was angled away from the officers. He raised a handgun and fired shots, striking the officers. Oelkers then ran away.

According to the court documents, one of the officers was shot in the upper right thigh, the bullet shattering his femur. The other officer was shot in his upper right arm and the left side of his neck, which took off a piece of his ear.

Portland Police said that both officers are now at home recovering from their injuries.

According to the court documents, detectives said they located seven shell casings at the scene.

Oelkers was arrested early in the morning on Jan. 26, thanks to a tip from someone working at a local business out by Portland International Airport. Court documents say the employee told police that a person had done damage to several vehicles on their lot and had gotten into confrontations with other employees over the past several months.

Oelkers made his first court appearance Tuesday morning for arraignment on the latest charges. He is facing two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, two counts of assault in the first degree with a firearm, and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm.