Update, December 9:

The Portland Police Bureau has released the name of the officer responsible for shooting Jeremy Rieck, two months after the incident. According to the bureau, the officer who shot Rieck is named Jonah Gellman. An investigation by the Multnomah County District Attorney's office concluded that Gellman's actions were not criminal, meaning Gellman has returned to work. 

Gellman, who has only been at the bureau for three years, already has a record of shooting his gun at members of the public. In September 2021, Gellman was one of two PPB officers who shot at a man accused of reckless driving.

Original story, October 18:

For the third time this year, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has refused to release the name of a Portland officer who shot a member of the public—despite a city requirement to do so.

On Friday evening, just after President Joe Biden touched down at the Portland International Airport, police responded to reports of a man threatening people with a knife in downtown Portland at SW 12th Ave. and SW Jefferson St. Around 6:15 pm, an officer confronted the alleged suspect and and shot him in the left arm. The man, who has since been identified as Jeremy Rieck, was sent to the hospital with non-fatal injuries. Rieck was booked into the county jail early Sunday morning for attempted assault and unlawful use of a weapon. 

According to a probable cause document for Rieck's arrest, Rieck allegedly swung a knife or a similarly sharp object at  a delivery driver who was entering a parked car. The driver wasn't injured by the attack. The document mentions an officer with the last name "Hughes" who observed Rieck's actions, but it's not clear if Hughes was responsible for the shooting. Rieck identified himself as homeless in a separate booking document. 

PPB has yet to release the name of the officer who shot Rieck. City policy requires that PPB publishes the name of any officer who fires their gun within 24 hours of a shooting, unless there is a "credible security threat" to that officer or the bureau. Yet PPB has not indicated that there's any security threat impeding the bureau's ability to publish the officer's name.

This decision to withhold an officer's name without an explanation is a quiet expansion of what's become a common practice following officer shootings in Portland in 2022. 

In July, after officers shot and killed a man who was firing a gun in a Southeast Portland yard, PPB withheld the identities of the officers responsible, citing threats of "doxing"—the act of sharing the home address or other personal information of someone online to prompt harassment of that person and their family. A month later, three other PPB officers shot at a Portlander, and the bureau again withheld their names due to alleged doxing concerns. At the time, PPB announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been tapped to investigate these threats. 

Now, PPB isn't even acknowledging why they aren't sharing the name of the officer who shot someone Friday. The most recent press release about the incident simply notes that, "The involved officer was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure." 

In September, both state elected officials and civil rights attorneys expressed their concern to the Mercury that PPB's habit of concealing the names of these officers could quietly become the status quo. Both Mayor Ted Wheeler and PPB's union for rank-and-file officers, the Portland Police Association (PPA), have stood by the bureau's decision. 

On Tuesday morning—more than 48 hours after the bureau was required to release the officer's name—PPB spokesperson Nathan Sheppard confirmed to the Mercury that the bureau is "continuing with the decision to not release names for the moment." Sheppard did not explain if there was security threat that triggered this decision.