{"id":401214,"date":"2026-01-09T04:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T04:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/401214\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T04:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T04:26:08","slug":"us-border-agent-shoots-and-wounds-two-people-in-portland-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/401214\/","title":{"rendered":"US border agent shoots and wounds two people in Portland, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"

A US Border Patrol agent has shot and wounded two people in Portland, prompting local police to call for calm after the fatal Minneapolis shooting earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Portland police said the man and woman were taken to hospital. Their condition was unknown.<\/p>\n

Border Patrol agents were conducting a vehicle stop on Thursday local time in Portland, Oregon, when the driver “weaponised” the vehicle before an officer “fired a defensive shot,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on X.<\/p>\n

At a news conference, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation.<\/p>\n

‘Targeted vehicle stop’, DHS says<\/p>\n

DHS described the vehicle’s passenger as “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who had been involved in a recent shooting in Portland.<\/p>\n

When the Border Patrol agents identified themselves to the vehicle’s occupants the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” the statement said.<\/p>\n

“The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.”<\/p>\n

There was no immediate independent corroboration of those events or any confirmation of gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants.<\/p>\n

Border Patrol is a branch of the US Customs and Border Protection agency.<\/p>\n

Portland Police said in its statement that local officers were not involved in the shooting.<\/p>\n

Local officers initially responded to a report of a shooting near a hospital.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The shooting was reported near the Adventist hospital. (Reuters: John Rudoff)<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a separate area.<\/p>\n

Officers then found a man and a woman with apparent gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n

Police said they applied tourniquets to the pair, who were taken to a hospital.<\/p>\n

“As far as we know both of these individuals are still alive and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon,” Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said.<\/p>\n

ICE agent fatally shoots woman<\/p>\n

The shooting comes a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minnesota<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The incident escalated tensions in a city that has long had a contentious relationship with US President Donald Trump, who recently attempted, unsuccessfully, to deploy National Guard troops there.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Portland Police Chief Bob Day acknowledged the “heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis”.<\/p>\n

“But I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more,” he said.<\/p>\n

US Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, urged any protesters to remain peaceful.<\/p>\n

Three shots fired, one woman dead and two versions<\/a><\/p>\n

ICE agents shot a woman in Minnesota. The president says it was self-defence while protesters claim it was murder. Here’s what the vision shows.<\/p>\n

“Trump wants to generate riots,” he said in a post on the X social media platform.<\/p>\n

“Don’t take the bait.”<\/p>\n

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement that his city was now grappling with violence at the hands of federal agents.<\/p>\n

“We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” he said.<\/p>\n

He called on ICE to halt its operations in the city until an investigation could be completed.<\/p>\n

“Federal militarisation undermines effective, community\u2011based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region,” Mr Wilson said.<\/p>\n

“I will use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A US Border Patrol agent has shot and wounded two people in Portland, prompting local police to call…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[213340,7810,213345,213346,213347,43,213350,213344,44,213349,213351,213341,213343,213342,213339,41,39,42,40,213348,46021],"class_list":["post-401214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-bob-day","tag-fbi","tag-federal-agent-shooting-portland","tag-hazelwood-portland","tag-hazelwood-shooting","tag-headlines","tag-keith-wilson","tag-minneapolis-shooting","tag-news","tag-portland-city-council","tag-portland-mayor","tag-portland-police-bureau","tag-portland-police-chief","tag-portland-police-shooting","tag-portland-shooting","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-border-patrol","tag-us-customs-and-border-protection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}