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Portland police have walked back promises to release the names of officers who shot and killed a man who appeared to be in the midst of a mental health crisis Saturday.
Sgt. Chris Burley, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, says "threats" have been made against the officers involved in the fatal encounter at a homeless shelter in Southeast Portland. He said in a statement that the names may be released after the threats have been assessed.
The agency also laid out a timeline of the events leading up to the shooting.
According to police, John Elifritz called 911 on Saturday afternoon to report that his family had been murdered, but gave the wrong address. Over the course of several hours, Elifritz had been spotted acting erratically around Southeast Portland.
Officers encountered him and tried to approach him, but say Elifritz held a knife to his throat and then ran away. They decided not to pursue him.
Police say a man told police a man with a knife had attempted to carjack him. A woman later called 911 to report that her Honda CRV had been taken by force by a man police believed to be Elifritz.
Eventually, Elifritz entered the Cityteam Ministries Shelter on SE Grand Avenue. Police showed up at 7:58 p.m. and fired on Elifritz.
Videos taken at the shelter show he stood a room's length away when police killed him.
Burley said in the statement that seven officers were directly involved in the shooting and another 12 had been at the scene. All of the involved officers are scheduled for administrative interviews either today or tomorrow.