Vancouver officer who fired weapon in chase, shooting identified
Porter, 28, has worked for the police department since March 2016
By Jack Heffernan, Columbian
county government and small cities reporter
Published: February 7, 2019, 2:11pm
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Both directions of Interstate 84 were closed between Interstates 205 and 5 in Portland. Police are investigating a car chase that crossed state lines from Vancouver, erupted into gunfire and ended with the arrest of another suspect in the homicide of Kelso convenience store clerk Kayla Chapman, 30. (Jack Heffernan/The Columbian)
The Vancouver Police Department has identified the officer who fired his weapon and was injured in a Tuesday night police chase and gun battle from Vancouver to Portland.
Vancouver police Officer James Porter, 28, fired his weapon during the chase and was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, according to a department press release. He was placed on critical incident leave, standard department protocol in an officer-involved shooting, the press release said.
Porter was not shot during the chase, Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said. She declined to go into detail about the nature of his injuries.
He has worked for the Vancouver Police Department since March 2016 and is assigned to West Precinct patrol, the press release said. Porter was the recipient of a Lifesaving Award for an incident in December 2016, according to Columbian archives.
Police chase
The pursuit began shortly before 7:30 p.m. near the intersection of state Highway 500 and Northeast Thurston Way when police attempted to stop a dark-colored pickup.
Inside the truck were at least two people, including Erkinson K. Bossy, 23, who is suspected of driving the getaway car in a Jan. 22 robbery and shooting at a Kelso convenience store that left the store clerk, Kayla Chapman, 30, dead.
Police believed ahead of the chase into Portland that Bossy was armed, Kapp said.
The pickup traveled onto southbound Interstate 205 and crossed the Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge into Portland, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian. At some point on I-205, shots were exchanged between the pickup and Porter. Investigators have not said who fired first.
The shootout spanned a total of 6 miles on I-205 and I-84, according to Portland police.
Police performed a Pursuit Intervention Technique, or PIT, maneuver, on I-84 to stop the pickup and took Bossy and an unnamed person into custody.
One person in the truck suffered life-threatening injuries unrelated to the gunfire and was in critical condition Wednesday, Portland police said. Police did not have an update on that person’s condition Thursday. The other person was treated at a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. Portland police did not clarify if Bossy was the person in critical condition.
I-84 between I-205 and Interstate 5 was closed for about 13 hours, affecting tens of thousands of people during the Wednesday morning commute. A section of I-205 was also closed for a shorter period of time.
Investigators say Bossy and Nenemeny W. Ekiek, 21, were with D’Anthony Leslie Williams, 19, when Williams allegedly shot and killed Chapman, the only other person in Holt’s Quik Chek Market at the time. Williams was arrested in Camas the day after the fatal shooting.
Bossy will be extradited to Washington, a process that could take several weeks, Kelso police Capt. Darr Kirk said Wednesday.
Ekiek was arrested Tuesday without incident during a traffic stop hours before the chase, Kapp said. He was arrested on a felony warrant unrelated to the fatal shooting but admitted his involvement while in custody, according to police records cited by The Daily News in Longview.
The three men, all from Vancouver, went to Kelso to buy drugs, and when they were unsuccessful, searched for a store to rob because they “did not want to make the drive to Kelso for nothing,” The Daily News reported, citing court records.
