06:08 PM PST on Thursday, December 23, 2004

By TERESA BELL and ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff

Shots rang out in downtown Portland in the middle of the holiday rush after a man tussling with a homeless person pulled out a gun and opened fire.

Portland police/kgw.com

Vince Edward Stemle, Jr.

The sudden eruption of gunfire on Thursday morning outside the Meier & Frank store left the 41-year-old shooting victim dead on the sidewalk and horrified the many passers-by and merchants who happened to see all or glimpses of the random crime.

Portland Police Bureau officers arrested Vincent Edward Stemle, Jr. following the shooting. Stemle is charged with murder and is lodged in the Justice Center Jail.

Police did not release the name of the 41-year-old victim, pending notification of next of kin. The only detail about the victim that police revealed was that he had been in contact with officers before because of mental health concerns.

Stemle had boarded a bus on SW 5th Avenue and West Burnside Street about 8 a.m. Court papers reveal that Stemle and the victim fought after Stemle stepped off the bus on SW 5th Avenue and SW Morrison Street just outside the bustling Meier & Frank store. The documents did not say what exactly sparked the altercation.

Sometime during the fight, the victim knocked off Stemle's glasses, the documents said. Stemle responded by pulling a gun and shooting the victim three times. The shots hit near his heart and in the neck.

Security workers from Meier & Frank ran out of the store after hearing the shots, called police and administered first aid to the victim. Police arrived at the scene about 8:18 a.m. and arrested Stemle. Police said they recovered a weapon from Stemle.

The police report counters eyewitness accounts that the victim was asking for money from Stemle shortly before gunfire erupted.

KGW

Police investigate the shooting scene around the body, covered in a white tarp.

"Detectives confirmed that there is no information that panhandling played a role in this crime," said Sgt. Brian Schmautz of the Portland Police Bureau.

A search of public records showed no criminal history for Stemle.

Investigators cordoned off an area of Morrison between 5th Avenue and SW 4th Avenue with yellow crime tape. That section of the bus mall was also closed for several hours.

Police were asking anyone who saw the shooting or Stemle before the altercation to contact them. The area where the shooting occurred was near an intersection where a light-rail line crosses a busy bus route ferrying shoppers and workers.

The shooting stunned shoppers, passers-by and merchants. Three people who took refuge in a Williams-Sonoma store near the shooting scene were near tears as they described the incident to police.

"I heard one shot, a pause, and then two more shots, really loud," said Sandy Sprague, who operates a flower cart about 30 feet from the shooting scene.

Ivan Castille, 40, was working at a nearby construction site when he heard the shots and saw a man wearing a black down jacket on the ground, partially covered by newspapers. Another man was administering first aid and calling 911.

"I think he was using the newspapers to try and stop the blood," Castille said. He added the victim appeared to have been shot in the chest and wasn't moving.

Dee Vanzanten said she was having coffee when she heard three loud pops.

“By the time we got here, the police already had the guy in handcuffs,” she said.

From her vantage point, Vanzaten said she could see people trying to revive the victim for about 15 minutes before he died.

“When he died, everybody just got up,” she said. “They pulled out a yellow tarp and covered him.”

Maria Hoover, a waitress at the store, said she was upset that kids wanting to see Santa Claus at the Meier & Frank would have to step outside the doors and walk past a crime scene.

“They have to be surrounded by this? What kind of Christmas spirit is that?” Hoover said.

Thursday’s incident reminded Hoover of the last time a shooting occurred in downtown Portland two years ago. In March 2002, a suspect shot and killed another man on Broadway Street -- two blocks from Thursday's shooting -- during a brazen daylight attack. The shooter in that case, Robert E. Heinz, shot victim Rick Ballantine to cover up an attempted robbery.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)