Gresham man accused of shooting police officer with BB gun

Hart

Gresham Police arrest Hart for shooting officer with an air gun

Gresham police on Friday arrested a man they say shot one of their officers in the arm with a pellet gun late Thursday night. Michael Lee Hart, 44, of Gresham, allegedly shot a police officer who was conducting a traffic stop near Southeast 187th Avenue, around 11:40 p.m. Thursday. Hart was not involved in the traffic stop, and fired the shot from across the street, police say.

The officer’s arm was injured, and he had to be taken to the hospital. Officers determined the shot was from an air gun and soon found that the shooting suspect, Hart, was across the street from the traffic stop in a travel trailer. Officers and East County SWAT team members negotiated with Hart for several hours before he surrendered.

Officers think Hart may be connected to another Gresham incident on Wednesday, in which someone shot an 11-year-old boy in the back with an air gun. Based on the investigations, Hart is being charged with both shootings. He is now in the Multnomah County Detention Center on two counts of second-degree assault and one count of assault of a public safety officer.

--Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

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