It was a very rough week for the homeless community in Portland. Yesterday, a homeless individual was shot and killed by a police officer.
Last week, four individuals were arrested after beating two homeless individuals in North Portland. This comes on the heels of another attack reported by Street Roots after rocks were thrown at individuals experiencing homelessness near St. Francis in November, and injured an individual sleeping outdoors.
Now, police have released information that has confirmed that a homeless individual died last week of hypothermia during the cold spell. Here's the press release from the police.
On Thursday December 30, 2010, at approximately 3:17 p.m., Portland Police officers responded to the report of an adult male lying unconscious behind a dumpster in the 3500 block of Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Officers and medical personnel arrived and determined that the man was deceased.
The deceased person has been identified as 58-year-old Randy Lee Tinnell, who was homeless at the time of his death. Mr. Tinnell was wearing several layers of wet clothes and officers noted many empty alcohol bottles, clothing and other property near his body.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner has conducted an autopsy on Mr. Tinnell and determined that he died of hypothermia.
Posted by Israel Bayer