Portland police Officer Andrew Hearst fired three shots at Quanice Hayes, the 17-year-old killed Thursday morning, and none of the shots struck Hayes in the back, according to police and the state medical examiner.
Despite social media posts from friends or family members, state medical examiner Dr. Karen Gunson said Monday that Hayes “was not shot in the back.”
Gunson and Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson, though, declined to describe where Hayes was hit by the officer’s bullets as an investigation into the officer-involved fatal shooting continues.
“While I can’t yet release many specifics due to the ongoing investigation that will be followed by a grand jury, I can tell you that the officer only fired three shots, and that Hayes did not have his back turned to the officer,” Simpson said.
An East Precinct officer fatally shot Hayes about 9:20 a.m. Thursday.
He was a suspect in an armed robbery of a man outside a Northeast Portland motel.
Police said they believed Hayes had robbed a man who was sitting in his car outside the Portland Value Inn at 1707 N.E. 82nd Ave., about 7:20 a.m. A motel employee said Hayes took the man’s Oregon food benefits card.
Shortly after, police responded to a report of a car prowl at the nearby Banfield Pet Hospital, Sgt. Pete Simpson said. They encountered Hayes, who fled, Simpson said.
Officers searched the neighborhood and later encountered Hayes outside a home on Northeast Hancock Street, where Officer Andrew Hearst shot and killed him, Simpson said. A replica gun was found near Hayes, police said.
Police haven’t said what prompted the officer to fire.
Hearst, who has been with the Police Bureau seven years, was interviewed by internal affairs investigators Friday morning and has been put on standard leave pending the outcome of an investigation and grand jury review.
The police fatal shooting of Hayes was one of two Portland police officer-involved shootings within an 11-hour span on Thursday.
— Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
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