City to pay $500,000 in police shooting settlement
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The city of Portland has agreed to pay a $500,000 settlement to the family of a man killed by a police sniper in 2005.
Raymond Gwerder was suicidal and had threatened to shoot police if they came inside his house. He was shot outside the house while he was on the phone with a police negotiator, ending a 90-minute standoff.
The police sniper told investigators he saw the 30-year-old Gwerder appear to aim his gun as if he was "hunting" for something to shoot.
The officer said he feared that if Gwerder went inside the triplex house, he'd harm a mother and her two children in an adjoining unit.
A Multnomah County grand jury reviewed the shooting and found no criminal wrongdoing.
Any settlement more than $5,000 must be approved by the City Council, and the matter is on next week's council agenda. If approved, it will be the city's largest payout in connection with a police shooting.
"There have been higher settlements where someone died in police custody, or in other police matters," said Becky Chiao, with the city's Risk Management Program, the department that deals with suits against the city. "In terms of an actual police shooting, this is a record."
Attorney Tom Steenson, who represented Gwerder's estate, announced the settlement in a news release
"It was a flawed police operation," Steenson said. "He was shot in the back at the same time he was cooperating with police."
Robert J. King, president of the Portland Police Association, sent out his own release, saying Steenson used his release to attack a "good and experienced" officer and to "presumably flaunt a settlement."
In an interview with The Oregonian newspaper, King said the sniper, Officer Leo Besner, has undergone extensive training and participated in high-risk searches.
"He's demonstrated restraint and professionalism," King said. "He'd never been involved in a shooting before, and shot because he believed it was necessary to defend life."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Raymond Gwerder was suicidal and had threatened to shoot police if they came inside his house. He was shot outside the house while he was on the phone with a police negotiator, ending a 90-minute standoff.
The police sniper told investigators he saw the 30-year-old Gwerder appear to aim his gun as if he was "hunting" for something to shoot.
The officer said he feared that if Gwerder went inside the triplex house, he'd harm a mother and her two children in an adjoining unit.
A Multnomah County grand jury reviewed the shooting and found no criminal wrongdoing.
Any settlement more than $5,000 must be approved by the City Council, and the matter is on next week's council agenda. If approved, it will be the city's largest payout in connection with a police shooting.
"There have been higher settlements where someone died in police custody, or in other police matters," said Becky Chiao, with the city's Risk Management Program, the department that deals with suits against the city. "In terms of an actual police shooting, this is a record."
Attorney Tom Steenson, who represented Gwerder's estate, announced the settlement in a news release
"It was a flawed police operation," Steenson said. "He was shot in the back at the same time he was cooperating with police."
Robert J. King, president of the Portland Police Association, sent out his own release, saying Steenson used his release to attack a "good and experienced" officer and to "presumably flaunt a settlement."
In an interview with The Oregonian newspaper, King said the sniper, Officer Leo Besner, has undergone extensive training and participated in high-risk searches.
"He's demonstrated restraint and professionalism," King said. "He'd never been involved in a shooting before, and shot because he believed it was necessary to defend life."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Learn about changes coming to commenting