Dangerous and Suicidal’ Oregon Man Killed Along with 2 Young Daughters in 'Horrific Scene'
An Oregon man considered “armed, dangerous and suicidal” is dead along with his two young daughters after a Wednesday incident in which he exchanged gunfire with police, authorities say.
The incident began after the unidentified man’s wife placed a domestic incident call to Portland police at about 12:30 a.m., Gresham police spokesman Sgt. John Rasmussen told reporters in videotaped comments seen by PEOPLE.
The woman said she was concerned for her husband and her two young daughters, ages 8 and 11, who were missing from the home, Gresham said, adding that the woman said “her husband had made some sort of threat towards them.”
According Rasmussen, based on the conversation with the man’s wife, police considered the suspect “armed, dangerous and suicidal.”
Authorities located the man and his vehicle about 1:45 a.m. in the parking lot of a plasma center in Gresham, Rasmussen said.
As officers approached the vehicle, there was an exchange of gunfire.
The man and his daughters were dead inside the vehicle, but police are still trying to determine how the girls died.
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“There was some sort of fire in the vehicle, and investigators are still trying to find out how it started, and exactly how the children died,” Rasmussen said.
“It’s one of those situation that we don’t know exactly what we’re walking into,” he said. “So when we pull up to a situation, we’re trying to assess what’s going to happen, and then things unfold very rapidly, and maybe that initial thought of how this might go changes very quickly.”
No officers were injured in the shooting, but those involved were placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.
Calls by PEOPLE to police were not immediately returned.
“Obviously it’s a horrible and horrific scene for all involved, especially the family, but for the officers and paramedics, too, that tried to save the children and were unable to do so,” said Rasmussen.
