SHOTS FIRED: DEADLY PORTLAND POLICE ENCOUNTERS REVEAL TROUBLING PATTERNS. It’s been 17 years since a Portland police officer fired a single shot at Kendra James, killing the young woman as she tried to drive away during a traffic stop. The broad outlines of that encounter are by now well-known: James, who grew up in North Portland, was Black and unarmed. The officer had reached deep into the car to get James out, a decision that the chief at the time criticized.