Portland police officer recounts ‘surreal’ traffic stop near-death experience

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Portland police officer is sharing more details after a shooting three years ago nearly claimed his life in the line of duty.

Officer Adi Ramic was one of four PPB officers who exchanged gunfire with a suspect near Northeast 78th Avenue and Mason Street the night of

May 6, 2022.

In a new video released by PPB, Ramic – who immigrated from Bosnia in the early 1990s – recounted the incident, which started off as a traffic stop conducted by him and another officer with the Focused Intervention Team.

“I remember taking his name down, or the name that he gave me, he obviously ended up being fake, which I knew because he didn’t know how to spell it,” said Ramic. “And then the date of birth he gave me when I asked him how old he was, he was, like, three years off. At that point, we decided to pull him out of the car to take him into custody.”

Then Ramic told the driver – identified as Matthew R. Leahey – to put his hands on his head while being seated in the car. But before Leahey touched his head, he quickly reached down and grabbed a gun, according to Ramic.

“I was able to hold his arm down, but he was able to flex his arm towards me and with the gun and crank off a couple rounds right past my head,” he recalled. “That was scary. That was, that was very scary. It was just surreal.”

Ramic said he then ducked for cover as two more bullets flew over his head.

Leahey then left the car and raised the gun to fire at another officer before he was shot by police. He was then taken to the hospital by ambulance with life-threatening injuries.

“He’s a very lucky guy, because part of our team were able to approach him and get him medical help, saving his life,” Ramic said.

All of the officers involved, including Ramic, were placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, which is standard protocol.

No officers were injured and officials said a semiautomatic handgun was also seized as evidence.

On May 27, Leahey was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted assault, unlawful use of a weapon, as well as felon in possession of a firearm.

In June 2023, Leahey plead guilty to two counts of attempted murder, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison

“Most importantly, this is a reminder, I think, to all of us, that life is very precious, and we need to live it to our best abilities,” Ramic said at Leahey’s sentencing hearing. “Because tomorrow truly is never promised.”