PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Transcripts from a grand jury proceeding that cleared a Portland police officer in the fatal shooting of a homeless man show vital details didn’t reach the officer or emergency dispatchers.
Officer Jason Walters testified that the police response would have been different on March 22 had he known the man reported to be harassing people at Hoyt Arboretum had threatened to kill two people and been seen with blood on his hands.
The officer said the call would have been given a higher priority and a minimum of two or three patrol cars would have responded quickly.
Walters said he would have waited until another officer arrived to approach the restroom where the man was holed up, and he would have taken along the beanbag shotgun from his car since he would have had an officer to back him up.