PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The manager of a pawn shop was shot and killed outside it in Portland, Oregon, Monday afternoon, police said.
Portland police responded to a parking lot shared by WinCo Foods, Papa Murphy’s Pizza and other businesses, around 3 p.m., The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Officers found man dead at the scene, police said. The shooter ran away before officers arrived, police said. Police identified the man killed as 31-year-old Benjamin Taylor Johnson. The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s office determined the cause of death is homicide and the manner is gunshot wound, police said. Authorities are investigating.
Johnson was the manager of the USA Pawn & Jewelry shop.
“It’s my understanding somebody was trying to steal something from the store and he wasn’t going to have that,’’ Johnson’s older sister, Abbey Johnson told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
She said her brother had worked in the pawn shop business in his home state of Minnesota before he was transferred about four years ago to Portland. She said he loved the work he did and he considered his co-workers “his team.’’
Police have not released information about the circumstances of the shooting.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.