At 4:40 pm this afternoon Ryan Nutter emerged from his 75 Sheridan Street third floor apartment accompanied by members of a SWAT team called in to bring the stand off to a peaceful ending this afternoon. When this blogger arrived at the corner of Congress and Sheridan Streets at 1:15 pm., Portland Police said that he was having a “mental health crisis.”  There were already eight (8) Portland Police cars on site and Sheridan Street was closed to traffic.  Exactly when the stand-off began this morning is unknown to this blogger.  Most of the afternoon, Nutter could be seen hanging out of the window – presumably talking to a large group of experts called upon to assist in the resolution of his issues as one officer put it.  Whether or not he was armed is unclear to this blogger, but probably not.

At 4:30 pm., four SWAT officers entered the green building currently owned by an Asian  family.  That step followed the moving of an armored vehicle from Congress Street where it had been situated since about 3:30 pm, down Sheridan Street in front of 75 Sheriden Street. The armored vehicle was turned to face the front of the building. It sat there indefinitely until the four SWAT members entered the building.  The armored vehicle had turned on Sheridan Street which had been cleared of numerous parked cars on the street at 4:20 pm.  A number of SWAT team members vacated the vehicle – accounting for two SWAT teams that this blogger saw during the afternoon.

At 2:15 pm., a military style vehicle parked near the intersection.  About five or six uniformed and rifle armed SWAT team members emerged from the vehicle.  They walked down to 75 Sheridan Street.  Meanwhile, crowds were forming on Congress Street that came and went as they had to go to work and elsewhere.

Three tenants of the building who live on the second floor of the building said that Nutter was a fairly new tenant in the building.  He often played loud music and had his televisoon set – too loud.  Ian Engelman, who lives nearby at 165 Congress Street, said that Nutter has been “aggressive and noisy” in the past. He has a speaker that he keeps in the window aimed at the outside.  He plays “head-banging” music,” said Ian, a long time resident of the area.

One resident of Congress Street out walkng his dog said he was unable to go to work. His car had a flat tire and was parked on Sheridan Street and he was unable to get to his car because of the stand-off.  “I didn’t expect to spend today not working,” he said.  Several others reported similar other issues.

Onlookers were consistently amazed at the amount of man power and the number of vehicles that came and went during this stand-off.  When this blogger asked a Portland Police officer if all this manpower was excessive for one person, he barked back:  “You have no idea what is going on here!”  “I didn’t think this city had all this equipmet,” said an amazed  Dino Lopez, who lives on Munjoy Hill. “This seems excessive.”  This was a sentiment expressed by many other on-lookers all afternoon.

This blogger left home this afternoon without a camera because the battery was being charged! At the conclusion of the stand-off around 4:45,  a member of the Portland Police promised that a press release would be issued to the press.   As of this writing it has not been received by this blogger.

(8/12/2022) For the latest on the arrest for criminal threatening by Ryan Nutter, please fast forward to press release issued by Portland Police today).