Jan 8 (Reuters) – U.S. federal agents shot two people in Portland, Oregon, who were taken to hospital, police said on Thursday while urging the city to remain calm after heightened tensions following a separate shooting a day earlier in Minneapolis.
“Two people are in the hospital following a shooting involving federal agents,” Portland police said in a statement.
“We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more,” police chief Bob Day said.
Police said they were not involved in Thursday’s shooting.
The FBI said it was probing the shooting in which the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were involved. The Minnesota shooting involved an officer of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a separate agency within the Department of Homeland Security.
Portland police said the condition of those who were shot was unknown.
“Officers responded and found a male and female with apparent gunshot wounds. Officers applied a tourniquet and summoned emergency medical personnel. The patients were transported to the hospital,” Portland police said in a statement.
Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney was cited by an ABC News affiliate as saying that as far as she knew they were still alive.
“FBI Portland is investigating an agent involved shooting that happened at approximately 2:15 pm near the 10000 block of Main St. in Portland,” FBI Portland said on social media.
Further details on the circumstances of the shooting in Portland were not immediately clear.
On Wednesday, an ICE officer’s fatal shooting of a 37-year-old mother of three in Minneapolis drew condemnation from local officials and sparked widespread protests in Minnesota and beyond.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement his city was now grappling with violence at the hands of federal agents and that “we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts.”
He called on ICE to halt all its operations in the city until an investigation can be completed.
“Federal militarization undermines effective, community‑based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region,” Wilson said. “I will use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh And Jasper Ward; editing by Costas Pitas and Diane Craft)
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