A Portland police officer shot and wounded a suspected carjacker on Monday, which resulted in a standoff that closed down Interstate 84 for four hours.
The man was pointing a gun at motorists on the off-ramp and after getting shot by police, he ran off, before eventually surrendering. The officer waited to fire until the suspect began pointing the gun towards police.
"Officers began talking with the man, who refused to comply with commands and indicated he wanted officers to shoot him," Sgt. Pete Simpson, Portland Police Bureau, said, The Associated Press.
After surrendering to police shortly after collapsing on another street, the suspect was taken to the hospital. He suffered a non life-threatening injury and relatives have come forward to say he has a mental illness.
The freeway was temporarily closed while police dealt with the crime scene and after four hours, re-opened again, according to OregonLive.
Oregon Dept. of Transportation spokesman Don Hamilton told reporters it was rare to actually shut down the freeway. "We don't do this very often."
One witness spoke with KATU about the incident saying he was really close to the suspect at one point.
"All of a sudden, I look to the right -- I'm the driver -- and I see this tall black guy as tall as a basketball player, and he had a black revolver and he was within five feet of us and he was pointing that gun at us," Ronald Stiefel said.
He added that the second the light turned green he sped out of their and called police once he got a safe distance away. "I thought we were going to get shot."
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