EUGENE, Ore. — Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow says Eugene police officers were justified in the fatal shooting of a man who pointed an AK-47 assault rifle at them.
The Register-Guard reports Perlow announced the decision Thursday, saying Sgt. Matt Lowen and Officer Travis Palki acted lawfully in the Sept. 26 shooting death of Roger Nielsen.
A Springfield detective who investigated the shooting said Nielsen had pointed a rifle at a woman and her and her infant child, repeatedly threatening to kill them.
Sometime later a friend of the woman came over, and Nielsen robbed the friend at gunpoint and assaulted both of them. A struggle followed, and the woman and her friend forced Nielsen out of the apartment.
Police found Nielsen at a nearby apartment. They ordered him to come out with his hands in the air, but he emerged with the rifle.
