A man is dead after a vehicle smashed through the front entrance of the Multnomah Athletic Club early Saturday morning, setting off a major police investigation when authorities discovered possible explosives both inside the car and scattered throughout the building.
Portland Fire and Rescue responded around 2:50 a.m. to reports of a car crashing through a window of the downtown social club and bursting into flames. After crews extinguished the fire, they found one person dead inside the vehicle.
During a press conference hours later, Portland Police Commander Jim Crooker said employees had first spotted a vehicle moving slowly around the location before it drove through a window and continued traveling inside.
“Officers responded very quickly and realized there was a deceased person inside the vehicle,” Crooker said. He noted that authorities activated extensive resources “out of an abundance of caution,” especially with Portland set to serve as a FIFA World Cup host city.
“We just wanted to make sure this event wasn’t related to anything that could be considered domestic terrorism,” Crooker added.
Police Chief Bob Day confirmed that investigators do not believe the incident is linked to a crash at the same location several weeks ago that injured a security officer.
“These events are unrelated in our opinion,” Day said. “Bad luck or bad timing for the Multnomah Athletic Club.”
Day assured the public the incident appears isolated. “We feel confident in assuring the community that there are no other threats, that this is an isolated event not related to domestic terrorism.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson praised coordination among federal and local partners. “Our special agent bomb technicians sit on the team that responded, along with a plethora of other federal and local partners,” Olson said. “We have our evidence response team here to process the scene once it’s cleared by the bomb technicians.”
Jim DeFrain, supervisor of the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit and a Portland Police officer, described the hazardous conditions inside the club.
“Myself and the arson investigator made an immediate entry. When we arrived a little after 4:00 this morning, we found a number of what we believed were incendiary devices and improvised explosive devices,” DeFrain said. “Some of those devices had already gone off. There were also a number of devices left in different states.”
DeFrain called it “by far the most complex scene I’ve ever dealt with” in his 13 years as a bomb technician. He noted that propane tanks were found inside the vehicle and that crews had discovered multiple devices, with new ones still being located as he prepared for the press conference.
“There’s a couple inches of water on the floor in there. It is a very, very difficult place to be working,” he added. “My folks are in there and they’ve been in there for about 14 hours now.”
Authorities confirmed that based on video evidence, all explosive devices were initially contained within the vehicle. “We know with a pretty high level of confidence that it was all contained when he went in,” DeFrain said.
Mayor Keith Wilson thanked first responders for preventing a larger catastrophe. “Portland Fire got the call early and responded with their quick work, their training. They took a possible catastrophic event and we’re here talking about a tragic event instead,” Wilson said.
The mayor also expressed condolences for the person who lost his life. “We’ll certainly provide those condolences. But when we come to think about it, we always have opportunities to help individuals out.”
Charles Leverton, general manager of the 135-year-old Multnomah Athletic Club, described the institution as “shaken” but resilient.
“Our community obviously is shook right now,” Leverton said. “We’ve got two priorities: one, helping support law enforcement in their investigation, and secondarily, just making sure our community is embraced and working through this.”
Leverton noted that the MAC is a 22,000-person nonprofit community. “MAC is a community, not a building. We’ve gone through some tough times and we’ll get through this as well.”
Authorities have not yet identified the deceased. Chief Day explained that the Medical Examiner’s Office is the only entity authorized to release the person’s identity, and examiners have been unable to access the body due to ongoing risks from unexploded devices.
The investigation remains active, with the explosive disposal unit expected to process the scene for another six to eight hours. Authorities do not anticipate another media briefing on Saturday or Sunday.
