BORDER PATROL SHOOTING SHOCKER: Two People Hospitalised After ‘Defensive Shot’ Fired in Portland – As City Teeters on Brink of Chaos Amid Trump Tensions
- Two people, a man and a woman, are fighting for their lives in hospital after a US Border Patrol agent opened fire in Portland, Oregon
- The shocking incident has sparked fresh fears of violence and unrest in the city, already reeling from a contentious relationship with President Donald Trump
- Local authorities are urging calm, but tensions are running high after a similar shooting in Minneapolis just a day earlier
- The Department of Homeland Security claims the driver ‘weaponised’ the vehicle, prompting the agent to fire a defensive shot – but the incident is shrouded in controversy
In a dramatic and disturbing turn of events, a US Border Patrol agent has shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, sending shockwaves through the community. The incident, which occurred on Thursday, has left a man and a woman hospitalised with apparent gunshot wounds.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol agents were conducting a vehicle stop when the driver ‘weaponised’ the vehicle, prompting an agent to fire a defensive shot. But the incident is shrouded in controversy, with no immediate independent corroboration of the events or confirmation of gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants.
‘Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,’ a Department of Homeland Security statement claimed. ‘The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.’ But local authorities are urging caution, with Portland Police Chief Bob Day acknowledging 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,’ he said. US Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, also urged any protesters to remain peaceful, warning that ‘Trump wants to generate riots’.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson was more forthright, slamming the incident as an example of ‘federal militarisation’ that ‘undermines effective, community-based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region’. He called on ICE to halt its operations in the city until an investigation could be completed.
‘We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,’ he said. ‘I will use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.’