PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two Portland police officers have been cleared of wrongdoing after shooting and injuring a suspect accused of threatening workers at two different gas stations and starting a firefight with law enforcement last month, authorities said.
After 30-year-old Bryan Velasco Ruelas allegedly pointed a gun at multiple workers at two different gas stations on September 20, the Portland Police Bureau responded. Despite officers giving commands to surrender on threat of use of force, Velasco Ruelas instead allegedly exclaimed “f— you” to the officers and fired at them.
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The two involved police officers, Sammy Smith and Spencer Foster, then fired back, injuring Velasco Ruelas with life-threatening injuries. However, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said the two officers were justified in their use of force.
Meanwhile, Velasco Ruelas, who is still in the hospital recovering from the injuries, is facing 15 charges related to the incident, including four counts of first-degree attempted murder, the Multnomah County DA’s Office said.
Velasco Ruelas was shot multiple times in the upper torso by Smith and Foster, who went on administrative leave following the shooting, as is standard protocol.
The two officers were not injured. However, Smith said he sensed the bullets fired by Velasco Ruelas “whizzing” past him. In addition, the DA’s office said one of the bullets fired by Velasco Ruelas passed the officers and hit a civilian’s car passing by, though the three occupants of the vehicle were not injured.
Velasco Ruelas is accused of terrorizing workers at a Space Age gas station on Southeast Foster Street on the morning of September 20. He allegedly pointed a gun at a worker at the gas station, then left.
Velasco Ruelas then went to another gas station, the Shell store near Southeast 122nd Avenue and Southeast Division Street, and allegedly verbally threatened a worker inside. Prosecutors said he then went outside, pointed a gun at another worker’s head, and asked, “Where would you like it?” After that, the suspect allegedly went to another worker outside, asked if he could pay for gas with an “8 ball of meth,” then flashed the gun he had in his waistband when the worker refused.
This is all based on both surveillance footage of the gas stations, witness interviews, and police body-worn cameras of the incident, the DA’s office said. However, the moment Velasco Ruelas fired the first shots at officers was blocked from view in the videos by the patrol cars that the officers were hiding behind during the shootout, officials said.
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After officers arrived at the Shell station, they commanded that Velasco Ruelas, who was in the passenger seat of a car driven by another individual, not reach for something in the car or force could be used against him, prosecutors say. Despite this, Velasco Ruelas briefly exited the vehicle, then claimed he had to get his phone, went back into the car, and emerged holding a gun, yelled “f— you” at the officers, and the exchange of gunfire began, the DA’s office said.
Velasco Ruelas was indicted by a Multnomah County grand jury on four counts of first-degree attempted murder, five counts of unlawful use of a weapon with a gun, three counts of menacing and three counts of recklessly endangering another person.
