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Summary of a Deadly Force Incident that occurred on February 5, 2026
Date: February 5, 2026
Suspect: Erik D. Sherrer, 57
Bureau Members: Detective Charles Asheim, Officer Dustin Barth
On the morning of Thursday, February 5, 2026, at an apartment high-rise in the 1600 block of Northwest 14th Avenue, members of The Portland Police Special Emergency Reaction Team, or SERT, and the Crisis Negotiation Team, or CNT, prepared to serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant on a suspect who was believed to be armed and dangerous. The suspect, 57-year-old, was wanted for an incident that took place five days earlier, where he entered a nearby grocery store, falsely claimed to be U.S. Secret Service Agent, and tried to shoot a uniformed security officer with a handgun. Sherrer ran off but left behind a loaded shotgun with shells that had messages written on them threatening President Donald Trump's life. An investigation led detectives to Sherrer, who was still believed to be in possession of the handgun.
The suspect's apartment was at the end of the hall on an upper floor of the apartment building. The apartment next door was vacant, and officers gained access to it prior to beginning the warrant service. The empty apartment can be seen in some of the footage. Officers evacuated the resident across the hall and secured the stairway door in an attempt to prevent the suspect from trying to escape.
At 5:18 a.m., SERT officers announced themselves, breached the apartment, and ordered the suspect to come out with his hands empty. He did not comply and remained inside. Force warnings were given, which are required by policy, but officers also used de-escalation and person-centered communication techniques in an effort to give the suspect a way to communicate with officers. The goal was to get him into custody safely.
Officers breached a wall between the vacant apartment and the suspect's apartment. Officers utilized a small Unmanned Aircraft System (drone) designed to give them a view of the apartment, but the suspect knocked the drone to the ground, damaging it. Officers prepared another strategy to safely resolve the situation, planning the use of irritant gas to try to prompt him to surrender, but they first took the time to evacuate the residents on the floor to minimize the risk of exposure to the gas. At 5:55 a.m., over 35 minutes after the initial knock-and-announce, officers deployed two kinds of munitions into the apartment, including 2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS) gas and oleoresin capsicum (OC) vapor.
Five minutes later, the suspect emerged. SERT member Detective Asheim was watching the door from behind a portable shield wall. He fired shots, reporting that that suspect had pointed a gun at him.
The suspect went back into the apartment but quickly re-emerged, still armed with the handgun. Detective Asheim fired additional shots. At the same time, Officer Barth, who was in the stairway, up one flight of stairs, fired shots at the suspect through the door. After officer Barth's shots, another officer deployed a flash-sound distraction device.
The suspect fell down in the hallway. Officers saw a gun at his feet but reported that they saw something else in his hand that appeared to be another gun. That hand was underneath him and out of the officers' view. They asked him to roll away from the gun. When he did not, they brought in a K9 unit to try to move him away from the gun. That did not work either, and officers then moved up to secure the weapon, take him into custody, and get him medical help. They found the other object was a flashlight. A paramedic from Portland Fire & Rescue, who is embedded with SERT, was called in at 6:10 a.m. He determined the suspect was deceased. The handgun recovered at the suspect's feet was loaded with a round in the chamber.
On February 19, 2026, PPB released the body-worn camera footage associated with this case and identified the involved members.
On February 19, 2026, the Multnomah County District Attorney released a memorandum finding the members' use of deadly force justified under Oregon law and not criminal.
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 directive outlining the procedures followed after an in-custody death is Directive 1010.10