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109 and Counting: Shootings Continue Around the State After Portland Copwatch compiled its list of 101 deadly force incidents in Oregon over the past five years for the Attorney General (see above), there have been at least eight other incidents, including one in Portland, bringing the statewide total to 109. Portland police were involved in 23, or 21% of the incidents, showing this is not just a Portland issue. Two of the recent victims were women-- while only four in the first 4.5 years were women, now the total is six in nearly 5 years. Here are short narratives of what happened: --On August 24, Medford Police shot and killed Stephen Andrew McMilon, 52, who was carrying "a shotgun, two handguns and a 'substantial' amount of ammunition," walking down the street and talking incoherently before he allegedly fired at the cops (Medford Mail Tribune, August 25). Neighbors told the media McMilon was a veteran suffering from PTSD, making him at least the 6th veteran in mental health crisis killed by police in Oregon in 5 years. --On August 28, Springfield Police shot and wounded Amanda Lynn Gatewood, 44, because she supposedly pointed a replica handgun after she ran from them when a 35 mile chase ended near Albany (Oregonian, August 29). --On August 29, a corrections officer at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton shot and killed Jayson Matthew Withers, 26, an inmate who was allegedly beating another prisoner; this was the first such shooting in over thirty years at the prison (Oregonian, August 30). --Grants Pass Department of Public Safety officers shot at Daniel Diaz, 29, during a September 22 standoff which occurred after Diaz allegedly fired a gun in the air to threaten his cousin. While several officers shot at him, Officer Max Anuschat's AR-15 rifle shot killed him (Oregon State Police, October 30). --On November 16, McMinnville Police Sergeant Rhonda Sandoval and officers Brian McMullen and Justin James shot and killed Jovenito Bermudez Arenas, 33, when he allegedly would not drop the knife that had been used to stab another civilian a short while earlier. Arenas' family says he'd returned to the convenience store to surrender to the police (Oregonian, November 19). --Lenny Miles, 37, was shot and killed by officers from the Klamath Falls Police Department, Klamath County Sheriff's Office, and Oregon State Police who chased him from the scene of a robbery on November 16 (Oregon State Police, November 16). --On November 20, Chelsea B. Fresh, 29, was shot and killed by Beaverton officers after her boyfriend called to report she was suicidal. Though she pointed a rifle at them, it was not loaded (Beaverton Police, November 21 and Oregonlive, November 25).
--On September 25, Vancouver Officer Jamie Haske shot at robbery suspect Thomas J. Keys, 41, in his car after he rammed a police cruiser, but did not hit Keys (Oregonian, October 3 and KOIN-TV, September 25). --On October 31, Vancouver Corporal Chris LeBlanc, Officer Brian Frances, and Clark County Deputy Anthony Spainhower shot and wounded a man who'd called them for help. The man had found the car of civilian shooting suspect John Kendall, who'd fled into the woods and killed himself; the cops say the man they shot matched Kendall's description (Oregonian, November 12). --On November 25, Vancouver Officers Brent Donaldson, Christopher Douville, Eric McCaleb, Timothy Pfeifer and Colton Price shot and killed a 31 year old man who was holding a replica AR- 15 rifle after he allegedly lit a fire and pointed the fake weapon at a civilian (Vancouver Police Department, November 29). |
January, 2015
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#64 Table of Contents
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