A Portland police officer shot in the line of duty recapped a terrifying day on the job Thursday and said he remains saddened by the death of the man who shot him.
Officer Chris Burley was one of several officers who responded May 12 to a traffic stop in northeast Portland involving 25-year-old Keaton Otis.
Otis refused to cooperate during the traffic stop and shot Burley once in each thigh, police said. Burley's fellow officers returned fire and killed Otis at the scene.
Burley said he clearly remembers Otis' demeanor on that day.
"The look that he gave me showed me he was very, very upset," Burley said.
Burley said he tried to pull Otis out of his car. He thought Otis could have been under the influence of drugs, but he said he didn't think he was armed until another officer yelled that Otis was reaching for something.
The 31-year-old officer then heard two gunshots.
"Automatically felt the burning in my legs and I thought, this is what it feels like to be shot," Burley said. "And as I fell to the ground, I thought, 'Do I have the use of my legs?'"
Burley said he tried to push himself away from the scene and out of the line of fire. Sgt. Don Livingston, who was near the back of Otis' car and saw Burley go down, said events appeared to be happening in slow motion.
"Realistically when I look back, I probably only ran 30 feet to get to him, but it seemed like a football field and it took me forever to get to him," Livingston said. "I couldn't get there fast enough."
Livingston and Officer Ryan Foote pulled Burley to safety and put him in the back of a patrol car. Foote sat in the driver's seat and drove directly to Legacy Emanuel Hospital. He knew every second counted.
"I remember driving into oncoming traffic and thinking, 'You've got to do this safely,' but, still, Chris is in my mind the whole time," Foote said.
The bullets hit muscle tissue, but did not hit any major arteries. Burley said he is sore and waddled slightly when he walks. Bu three weeks after the shooting, Burley was not only back on his feet, but also back at work at the police bureau where he is on administrative duty.
"I think the first time I get out of the car, I'm going to be nervous," Burley said.
He said returning to the city's streets won't be easy, but he wants to continue his police work and help the mentally ill get more resources. Otis' parents said he had a mood disorder.
"It saddens me that Otis died and it's sad that he made the decision he did," Burley said.
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