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A Portland Police officer at the scene of a “critical incident” at the Chestnut Tree Inn in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 24, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Law enforcement officers gather at the scene of a “critical incident” at the Chestnut Tree Inn in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 24, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Portland Police vehicles, responding to a “critical incident” at the Chestnut Tree Inn in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 24, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Portland Police officers are on the scene of a “critical incident” in Southeast Portland, Sept. 24, 2026. The area surrounding the Chestnut Tree Inn is cordoned off by police tape.
Joni Auden Land / OPB
A wanted suspect and a Portland Police Bureau K-9 are dead following a shooting in Southeast Portland, officials confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Gunfire erupted around 1:45 p.m. near the Chestnut Tree Inn, a hotel at the corner of Southeast 97th Avenue and Stark Street. More than 40 emergency units responded to the scene. Police cordoned off several blocks around the hotel.
The shooting occurred after a regional Violent Offenders Task Force located the wanted suspect in the area, Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mike Benner told reporters.
Benner confirmed the suspect and the K-9 both died.
Benner did not answer questions about the man or why he was wanted by the task force. Benner also did not release additional details about what led to the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation.
The K-9, named Kylo, had been transported to at least two separate veterinary clinics for emergency care, Benner said.
“Our members are reeling over that. They’re also reeling over the loss of a human life,” Benner said. “You hear Chief [Bob] Day talk about the sanctity of life all the time. But as far as our K-9? Heavy hearts.”
An employee at the Chestnut Tree Inn told OPB that police shot a person and that a K-9 was hit and injured by gunfire in the hotel’s parking lot. An OPB reporter at the scene said officers were interviewing people at the Chestnut Tree Inn.
Multiple bystanders separately recalled that, around 2 p.m., they saw several police cruisers arriving at the scene following a volley of gunfire.
Ryan Kowal, a bystander, lives with his wife at a hotel across the street.
“Honestly, it’s a shocker,” Kowal said. “It’s not something you expect to see during the daytime.”
According to Benner, the last Portland Police Bureau K-9 to die in the line of duty was a 3-year-old German shepherd named Mick who was responding to a burglary alongside his handler. The handler was also wounded during that encounter.
This story will be updated.