Man accused of attempted murder, child sex crimes after SE Portland shooting

Yahoo

01-05-2025

PORTLAND, Ore. () — A Portland man was arrested and accused of attempted murder and child sex crimes following a shooting in Southeast Portland last week, authorities said.
Portland police said they arrested 21-year-old Amir J. Christianson on Tuesday in connection with a that left one person injured.
Though someone was arrested on the same night of the shooting, the Portland Police Bureau later clarified that the suspect — 30-year-old DeShawn R. Nichols — .
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Police initially responded to the shooting just before 6 p.m. near Southeast Stark Street and Southeast 106th Avenue.
'Officers found evidence of gunfire, including 16 ammunition casings, but no victims or suspects at the scene,' PPB said in a press release.
Police were later notified of a 41-year-old man who was dropped off at a nearby hospital with gunshot wounds. That individual is still recovering in the hospital and is expected to survive his injuries, officials said.
Authorities were made aware of a description of the car used to drop the victim off at the hospital and an officer later located the vehicle.
'The officer attempted to stop the driver, but he eluded at high speed. Due to the danger to the community and involved officers, they did not initiate a pursuit of the driver hoping he would slow down and stop recklessly driving on public streets,' PPB said. 'Unfortunately, he chose to continue driving recklessly and crashed his car at Northeast 122nd Avenue and Northeast Glisan Street.'
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The driver, later identified as Nichols, was found under a deck following a lockdown and search between Northeast Burnside Street and Northeast Glisan Street and between Northeast 122nd Avenue and Northeast 127th Avenue. A stolen gun was seized from Nichols' car, police said.
The following day, police said their investigation revealed Nichols was not the suspect in the shooting. However, Nichols was arrested on other outstanding warrants and eluding police, authorities said.
As the investigation continued, witness testimony and evidence led police to arrest Christianson in connection with last week's shooting, officials said. After being located by detectives Tuesday evening, the PPB SERT and Crisis Negotiation Team successfully took him into custody.
Two handguns were seized as evidence after a search warrant was executed in the 2500 block of Northeast 15th Avenue.
'During the investigation of the shooting and the subsequent search warrants, Detectives found information about other crimes committed by Christianson against members of his family,' police said.
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Christianson was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center and is accused of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, second-degree sex abuse-domestic violence, using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct and second-degree encouraging child sex abuse.
Anyone with information about the case or other alleged crimes committed by Christianson is encouraged to contact the Portland police.
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