Michael Ray Townsend called 911 twice within nine minutes on June 24, each time telling a dispatcher he was suicidal, high on methamphetamine and urging them to send police and an ambulance as fast as possible to the lobby of the Lloyd Center Motel 6.
On his first call at 7:04 p.m., he said he was “packing a screwdriver” but wasn’t violent and wanted an ambulance. On the second call, he said was “tripping” and wanted police “to get here right now.”
Portland firefighters arrived at the motel a short time later. Police followed to assist with the medical call.
In testimony before a grand jury, the firefighters and officers described their unsuccessful attempts to help Townsend, a 40-year-old with a history of mental illness, before he rushed at an officer with a sharp tool in his hand.
Officer Curtis Brown shot and killed Townsend, the second of three fatal shootings by Portland police this year.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office recently released transcripts of witness testimony before the grand jury, the first extensive details of the shooting after police previously released video surveillance footage. Prosecutors announced in September that jurors found no criminal wrongdoing by Brown in Townsend’s death.
After finding Townsend near the Northeast Portland motel office that night, the firefighters offered to have him taken by ambulance to a hospital. But Townsend told them he needed to return to his room to get something, according to their testimony.
The firefighters were uncomfortable with that idea, unsure what he might retrieve, and told Townsend if he went back to his room, they would leave.
Together, the firefighters and police decided to pull out. But they told Townsend that he could call back if he still wanted help, according to grand jury transcripts.
As officers and firefighters were about to leave, Officer Brett Emmons slowly drove through the parking lot to head out but looked up at Townsend on the motel’s second landing.
Emmons said he asked one more time through his open driver’s side window if Townsend wanted help. Townsend said he did.
So Emmons stopped and Brown did as well in a separate patrol car, and the firefighters and medics returned to the motel lot. They convinced Townsend to meet them at the bottom of an outer stairwell, where he sat down on a lower step.
Emmons, Brown and four firefighters stood near the bottom of the stairwell and spoke with Townsend. Emmons did most of the talking and again asked Townsend if he was feeling suicidal.
Townsend said he was, explained he was high on meth and just wanted to go to the hospital, where he could come down from the high safely.
When Emmons told Townsend he needed to pat him down before he could be taken to the hospital by ambulance, Townsend’s “whole posture changed,” Emmons testified.
Townsend started to reach with his left hand toward his left front pants pocket, Emmons, Brown and the firefighters testified.
Emmons and Brown told Townsend not to touch his pocket.
“It makes me wonder what you’re doing,” Emmons said he told Townsend. “You’re making me super nervous when you touch your pocket.’’
At one point, Townsend asked if he could take his shirt off. The police asked him not to. As Townsend kept touching his left pocket with his left hand, Emmons asked if he had anything sharp on him, but Townsend didn’t respond.
One firefighter explained that they couldn’t put him in the ambulance without checking him for weapons for safety purposes. Townsend said he wouldn’t let police pat him down and told the group to “F off,” another firefighter testified.
Fire Lt. Aspen Breuer said he finally told Emmons, “We need to get out of here. We’re escalating the situation.” Emmons agreed.
“He’s like, ‘100 percent. Let’s just leave. Let’s let him calm down. He’ll call us back,’” Breuer testified.
So the officers and firefighters agreed to back off and leave again.
“If you need more time to think about going to the hospital, that’s totally fine. We can leave and you can call back later,” Emmons said he told Townsend. “Call back if you need to.”
Emmons said he started to step away, as did Brown, the firefighters and ambulance medics.
Moments later, the firefighters – Breuer, Brent Chopp, Giancarlo Scrobogna and Kevyn Smoot -- said they saw Townsend grab something from his pocket and start charging at Brown, who drew his 9mm handgun. Scrobogna said he was about 2 feet from Townsend and thought he pulled out a knife or screwdriver from his pocket. Scrobogna said Townsend yelled, “I’m going to kill you all!”
They heard Brown yell, “Stop! Stop! ... Drop it !” and fire his gun when Townsend lunged at Brown, according to their testimony.
Brown said he was walking away, his eyes still on Townsend when he heard Townsend scream, “Do you want this (expletive)?” and saw him stand up and dig into his pocket.
Brown drew his gun and said he yelled at Townsend to “stop!” or “drop it!”
Brown said he didn’t see what Townsend was reaching for as he backpedaled away from him.
“He starts moving towards me,” Brown said. “I tell him to stop. He’s like ‘(expletive) You! Do you want this (expletive)?”
Brown then said he saw what looked like a knife in Townsend’s left hand. Townsend held it at shoulder height and was coming at him, Brown testified.
Brown said he moved back as far as he could in the parking lot, toward a parked police car, but when Townsend was about 4 to 5 feet from him, he fired his gun.
“I wasn’t able to create any more distance,” Brown testified. “I was worried about getting stabbed.”
Emmons said he wasn’t sure what Townsend pulled out of his pocket but noticed it was “something metallic” and “pointy” and it was sticking out of his fist.
“He’s 100% focused on Officer Brown,” Emmons testified, and said something like “I’ll (expletive) do it” or “Let’s (expletive) do this.”
Emmons said he had backed away at an angle, but Brown was in Townsend’s direct path.
Emmons said he briefly wondered if he could go “hands on” with Townsend but realized he couldn’t because of the sharp weapon Townsend was holding.
Instead, Emmons drew his Taser as he heard Brown fire. Brown fired two gunshots, according to the records.
After Townsend dropped to the ground, medics returned to the scene to try to treat him before he was loaded into an ambulance.
He died on the way to the hospital, pronounced dead at 7:46 p.m., Portland homicide Detective Travis Law testified.
Townsend had two entry wounds, one on the left side of his abdomen and a second that entered his left arm. The bullet that entered the arm traveled into his chest, passed through his heart and came to rest in the right side of his chest, according to an autopsy.
Toxicology tests found methamphetamine, amphetamine and olanzapine in his blood. Olanzapine is an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizoaffective disorders, according to Dr. Sean Hurst, chief medical examiner.
The level of methamphetamine in Townsend’s system was consistent with intoxication, Hurst said.
Townsend had been diagnosed with a number of psychiatric disorders in the past, including schizoaffective disorder, depression, anxiety and substance abuse, according to Hurst and Law.
Townsend was born in Maui, Hawaii, but largely grew up in Bakersfield, California. He started showing signs of mental illness in adolescence, his sister said. He loved music and sports and eventually moved to Portland around 2015, thinking its “more relaxed atmosphere and environment” would be more accepting to a heavily tattooed musician, his sister said. She had last talked to him by phone the Sunday before his death. He told her he needed some money and shared how he didn’t want to go back to jail or prison and how he had suffered panic attacks that he couldn’t control in custody.
While the officers were at the hotel before the shooting, Brown said he had noticed the distinctive tattoos on Townsend’s face and realized that he had a call a day or two earlier about Townsend but couldn’t find him after people at the Lloyd Center mall had complained about a man yelling at them.
Brown was hired by the Police Bureau in 1999 and took about two years off to work as a federal air marshal before returning to the bureau in 2003.
He said he had hoped the officers and firefighters could have left the motel to inform the bureau’s Behavioral Health Unit to try to make future contact with Townsend when he might be “more calm” to get him the help he needed.
Townsend’s sister Rachel Steven said Monday she hadn’t read the transcripts yet. She told The Oregonian/OregonLive after the shooting that she wonders if officers could have taken alternative measures instead of deadly force when her brother advanced toward Brown.
Her brother was seeking help and police should be better prepared to deal with people experiencing the double crisis of mental illness and drug use, she said. Townsend had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later schizophrenia, she said.
He had called 911 or sought mental health help multiple times before that night, she said. He had received mental health treatment through Cascadia Behavioral Health and LifeWorks, according to court records.
Steven said she believed her brother had been out of custody for seven to eight weeks without a support system when he was killed.
His supervised release had been revoked last December when he had failed to participate in mental health treatment, continued to use methamphetamine and didn’t report to his federal probation officer on a 2018 conviction for an unarmed robbery, according to court records.
After the grand jury declined to indict Brown, Steven wrote on her Facebook social media page, “not holding Portland police accountable is unacceptable” and said she was going to consult with lawyers.
“Rest in Heaven Michael I love you always!” she posted this month.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian