PPB Case #12-62040
Date: July 17, 2012
Suspect: Juwan Blackmon, 17 (photo not released; juvenile)
Involved Officers: Officers Dennis Wilcox and Gregory Moore
On Tuesday July 17, 2012, members of the Portland Police Bureau's Gang Enforcement Team and Gun Task Force were conducting surveillance on a location in Southeast Portland as part of an ongoing investigation. During that surveillance, they observed a man armed with a handgun get into a vehicle with some other men, and the vehicle left the area. Investigators asked for East Precinct uniform officers to conduct a high-risk traffic stop on the vehicle, as they believed the armed man was an occupant.
East Precinct and Gresham Police officers stopped the vehicle at approximately 153rd and Southeast Division Street and conducted a high-risk stop, which is used when there is information that someone in the vehicle may be armed.
Vehicle occupants exited the vehicle and were taken into custody. The man investigators believe had the gun, got out, did not follow commands and ran from the officers into the neighborhood.
Officer Dennis Wilcox, a 21-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau, deployed one round from a less-lethal beanbag shotgun. Officer Gregory Moore, who was hired in 2011, fired one round from his firearm.
The armed suspect fled into neighborhood and officers, including a Police K-9 Unit, searched the neighborhood and located him in the yard of 1933 Southeast 149th Avenue.
The injured suspect was identified as 17-year-old Juwan Blackmon. He was transported to a Portland hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and later lodged at the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home (JDH) on two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.
Officers searched the neighborhood for items the suspect may have dropped and they have recovered two handguns. Blackmon later testified that he was trying to pull a handgun from his waistband and that he was armed with two revolver handguns when stopped by police.
On August 6, 2012, a Multnomah County Grand Jury found this officer-involved shooting to be justified. The Multnomah County District Attorney did not release Grand Jury transcripts regarding this case.
As part of the use of force review process, the Bureau conducts an internal review of the entire incident and the case will go before the Police Review Board (PRB), which is composed of community members, Bureau members and representatives from the Independent Police Review Division.
The Portland Police Bureau's directive outlining the procedures followed after an officer-involved shooting may be found in Directive 1010.10.