Portland State University briefly orders shelter-in-place during Friday night protest
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland State University briefly issued a shelter-in-place order on campus late Friday night.
The university initiated the shelter order at 9:38 p.m., according to a post by PSU on X. By 10: 12 p.m., the shelter-in-place order ended, PSU said in a follow-up post. However, they warned people to “Continue to avoid area in front of Hoffman Hall.”
KOIN 6 News reached out to PSU for comment. At 9:59 p.m., a spokesperson acknowledged that their Campus Public Safety Office was responding to an incident, with the assistance from the Portland Police Bureau, near the South Park Blocks area. However, they did not confirm whether or not the activity was protest-related at the time.
However, after the shelter-in-place order ended, a PSU spokesperson confirmed to KOIN 6 News the following at 10:41 p.m.:
“There is an ongoing protest on campus that we are monitoring. At one point, there were concerns about violence which led us to issue a brief shelter in place. The environment has since calmed down and we have resumed monitoring.”
At 12:20 a.m. Saturday, a PPB spokesperson confirmed to KOIN 6 News that “PPB is assisting with monitoring a protest on campus,” but said they couldn’t share any further details.
A KOIN 6 News videographer who captured footage of the ongoing situation as it was unfolding around 11 p.m. said police had gathered in riot gear and were standing by, watching a group of about 100 protesters dressed in black.
This is a developing story. KOIN 6 News will update this story if more information becomes available.