On Friday, February 17, 2023 at 1:34p.m., North Precinct officers responded to the Schrunk Riverview Tower Apartments at 8832 North Syracuse Street on a Hazardous Condition call. A resident on the 8th floor of the building was reportedly in mental health crisis and throwing furniture and other objects off the balcony of his unit.
When officers knocked on the suspect’s door, he answered the door holding a rifle, then closed the door. The officers backed off and requested additional resources to the scene. A short time later, at 2:10p.m., officers heard the sound of a shot inside the apartment. Another officer saw the suspect come out onto the north-facing balcony holding the rifle.
Officers believed that this situation was an extreme public safety concern as it was an armed subject barricaded in an elevated apartment firing a rifle. Officers began closing streets in the area, restricting pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Officers used the Community Emergency Notification System (CENS) to alert residents in a four-block radius that there was police activity and ask that they shelter in place. Officers continued to periodically hear the sound of gunfire from within the unit, and the suspect was seen with the gun on the balcony multiple times.
The Special Emergency Reaction Team and Crisis Negotiation Team responded to the scene. Residents of two units were evacuated. It was unsafe to evacuate any other units, so building residents were directed to shelter in place. The area closure included North Ivanhoe Street to North Edison Street, North St. Louis Avenue to North Pittsburgh Avenue.
The suspect began to light items on fire on the balcony. Officers loud-hailed the suspect from the hallway. He came out and was taken into custody at 4:58p.m. But by that time, the fire had grown to fully engulf the balcony and was extending into the unit. Portland Fire and Rescue responded and began attacking the flames, while officers began assisting residents to evacuate the building. One resident was transported for a medical issue during the evacuation.
Officers believed that this situation was an extreme public safety concern as it was an armed subject barricaded in an elevated apartment firing a rifle. Officers began closing streets in the area, restricting pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Officers used the Community Emergency Notification System (CENS) to alert residents in a four-block radius that there was police activity and ask that they shelter in place. Officers continued to periodically hear the sound of gunfire from within the unit, and the suspect was seen with the gun on the balcony multiple times.
The Special Emergency Reaction Team and Crisis Negotiation Team responded to the scene. Residents of two units were evacuated. It was unsafe to evacuate any other units, so building residents were directed to shelter in place. The area closure included North Ivanhoe Street to North Edison Street, North St. Louis Avenue to North Pittsburgh Avenue.
The suspect began to light items on fire on the balcony. Officers loud-hailed the suspect from the hallway. He came out and was taken into custody at 4:58p.m. But by that time, the fire had grown to fully engulf the balcony and was extending into the unit. Portland Fire and Rescue responded and began attacking the flames, while officers began assisting residents to evacuate the building. One resident was transported for a medical issue during the evacuation.
Brent B. Lusted, 63, of Portland, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on four counts each of Arson in the First Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and Menacing.
The Fire Investigations Unit served a search warrant in the apartment and recovered what turned out to be a BB rifle. No evidence of gunfire was found. It’s not clear what the loud banging sounds that were heard from within the apartment were.
