Portland police believe a shopper found dead Monday in a Fred Meyer parking lot in Northeast Portland was shot and killed while trying to stop a purse snatching. The initial investigation suggests Jonathan Trent, 47, witnessed the robbery and intervened, police said Thursday. A suspect or suspects shot him before fleeing, they said.

After responding to a report of a robbery and "shots fired," Portland police said they found a man lying on the ground. His death has now been ruled a homicide.

Portland police have identified the man whose “suspicious death” at the Gateway Fred Meyer on Monday is now considered a homicide, according to investigators. Read online:

Portland Police investigators have launched a homicide investigation following a suspicious death case at a Northeast Portland Fred Meyer store.