Officers shoot, kill man during rape investigation in The Dalles
THE DALLES, Ore. - One man is dead after police said he brandished a knife and was shot by two officers in The Dalles during a rape investigation Monday night.
Oregon State Police said officers with The Dalles City Police Department responded to a call of a rape in progress at about 11 p.m. Monday in the 700 block of Hostetler Street and made contact with the victim and suspect.
While officers took the victim to a hospital, two patrol officers stayed with the suspect, Gerald Arthur Stowell, Jr., 50. Investigators said Stowell initially cooperated with police.
Stowell then went to the bathroom around midnight and when he came out, investigators said he had a large kitchen knife and began to threaten the two officers.
State police investigators said both patrol officers drew their weapons and ordered Stowell to drop the knife. Both officers then opened fire, police said.
The officers were not hurt during the incident.
Despite efforts by one of the officers and paramedics to help Stowell, police said he died at the scene.
Investigators said an as-yet unidentified person witnessed the shooting.
The two officers who shot Stowell are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.
The Oregon State Police and Wasco County Sheriff's Office are assisting in the investigation.
Here's some background on Stowell. Mr.RepeatOffender.http://gorgenews.com/news/?p=17414Im not saying he deserved to die, but Jerry Stowell âwould joke, âWell, if I ever go back to prison theyâre going to have to drag me back there dead because Iâm not going to go.ââInteresting... he sounds like a disgusting pig and Im not really sad that he's gone...
Goodnight and good riddance.
Best wishes to the officers and thier family. These events come with baggage as taking a life and the aftermath is not a "high point" in the career, not even close. You did what you had to, not what you wanted to. That's the burden of carrying a gun and a badge.   Hold family and friends close and have a healthy recovery and feelings of support from your community.
I like stories with happy endings :)
Don't bring a knife to a gun fight.
Good shootin'. This is why the police have guns, to protect public safety from knife-wielding rapists and other lunatics. This is definitely not a case of "excessive force". Sounds like just the right amount of force. Thats what rapo's get.Â
Ooooooooooooooooh, The Dalles. Pretty soon people are going to start moving from The Dalles to Harlem or the Bronx...where it's safer.
One can only hope that the lady who made the charge of rape was not making it up. There is a lot of that going on these days.
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My guess is that is was boyfriend/girlfriend and he wanted some and she was too tired. I am guessing that alcohol was involved with both.
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Who knows, she might even come after the police and say they didn't need to kill him. I guess I am just too jaded from responding to this stuff for over 30 years and can almost see the images of the two folks involved.
@RalphCramden One it was the future father inlaw raping the girl, two neither of them were drinking, three I would never lie about something like that, and four I'm the rape victim
 @RalphCramden According to Wasco County court records, Stowell, whose full name is Gerald Arthur Stowell, Jr., was charged in 1998 with six counts of sodomy, one count of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree criminal mistreatment. Basically he is disgusting!!! and now there is one less SICKo on the streets...
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So it was a happy ending after all....8-}
 @RalphCramden  @andjusticeforall you could say that... ;D
wow raphy i didn't know you were a cop. did you guys use the 10 code or the 12 code ?
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No one uses 10 or 12 code anymore. It's all clear text.
Boy the Dirty D sure is living up to it's name here lately. Two murders and a dead rapist all in about a two week period. Sure am glad I live in Hood River.
Didn't these guys get the memo? The DOJ has ruled that the police uses excessive force with the mentally ill.
Oops.
 @Agent Sydney Bristow That was Portland, try to keep up!!
They got the memo and thought it was a joke. The police are not medication administrators, so the tatertots out there, take your meds!!! When someone brings a knife to a gunfight, my bet is on the gun. Way to go police
 @Agent Sydney Bristow Have heart, some ambulance chaser will get ahold of his family and someone will get cut a big 'ol government check. Excessive force, dont 'cha know?
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From the sounds of it, that may be the closest thing to a legacy this guy had to offer.
Yet another mundane citizen brutally MURDERED by terrorists in uniform... In his own home no less.
@theytriedtocensorbut-I'MBACK! I support 'em, too!
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 @danoseknows mkay.
I have posted a lot on this subject so I think my view on the whole thing is clear. There is one thing I do find kind of disturbing and that is the amount of people that seem to be against due process.
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This man did something unforgivable yes.
This man needs to be held accountable by the law yes.
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The police do not have the authority to exercise judgement or sentence on this man no matter what he may have done except under limited circumstances. Those circumstances may have been present or may not have been(which is why there is a internal investigation going on).
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The two police made a decision that can not be reversed if found to be in error in any way. And I know I wasn't there and was not in that situation and don't know first hand what was going on but I do know that across the nation it is a issue that police are using excessive force in there methods of dealing with issues and they have other options available, especially in this day and time they have other equipment and resources available to them and it is in my opinion that they did not use all methods available to them to access the situation and make a valid choice in there method of response.
 @Insurrection You're just another arm chair quarterback, with your sad interpretation of what happened and or what should have happened in your world of make believe.  This is not the movies, it is reality.  Get a fricken clue....officer's are trained to use lethal force when confronted by an assailant with a knife...center mass....there is no "shoot it out of his hand" scenario here bright one.  He made his choice and now he's gone.  I have no sympathy for that individual.
@Insurrection Your post would make more sense if the entire last paragraph was not one long sentence. Proper grammar can sometimes dramatically help your argument.
 @Insurrection The police do not have the authority to exercise judgement or sentence on this man no matter what he may have done except under limited circumstances.
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'limited circumstances'? You mean something like threatening them with a knife?
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And, for the record, according to the account given here, they did not 'sentence' him. They reacted to an apparent threat to their own saftey with equal and opposing force.Â
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You claim that you 'Â don't know first hand what was going on' , and then fill your opinions with subjective arguments that tend to indicate that YOU have already passed judgement on the events, and the officers reaction.Â
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There are 'good' and 'bad' police officers out there. There are also 'good' and 'bad' doctors, lawyers, politicians and starbucks baristas. When a situation gets out of control, and lives are threatened, I'm going to call the police. I'm going to trust that these duty sworn Men and Women are going to respond the situation with professionalism and depend on their training and situational awareness. If and when I find myself on the receiving end of a Law Enforcement officers investigation, I'm going to cooperate to the extent of my legal rights, and follow their instructions. Should I choose to confront them with a weapon, I would expect that I may very well get shot or killed as a direct result of that choice.Â
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I would encourage you to get to know some of the Men and Women whos job it is to put their lives on the line daily to protect you and your family. Go on some ride alongs, spend some time at sit-ins with the dispatch centers. Learn what it takes to do this incredibly difficult job, it might give you some perspective.Â
 @MarkKpic  @Insurrection I agree Mark, however.. I question why the officers spent an hour on scene with the suspect? Why he was allowed to use the restroom? Couldn't he potentially have destroyed evidence of the alleged raped? Since the victim was already transported to the hospital, I think this mess could easily have been avoided by cuffing and transporting the now dead suspect.
 @Lips  @MarkKpic  @Insurrection There was an investigation in progress. That's all we know for certain.Â
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If I were to entertain speculation, the officers had reason to question the authenticity of the claim of rape. Had it been an obvious sexual assault on a random person, he likely would have been cuffed and transported. As it was apparently not a 'drug' investigation, there was likely no evidence to be distroyed, so as a courtesy they told him to go when he said he had to go.Â
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Public/political micromanaging and armchair quarterbacking is probably the biggest problem with the job these Men and Women do. Everyone who reads a news story comes up with 100 'what ifs' and 'why couldn't they have'. In the end, it's up to the responding officers to evaluate the situation and react accordingly. Should a circumstance such as this come to pass, it then falls on the conveinend Grand Jury to determine if the officers 'got it right'. I have a good deal of faith in that system. I also believe that they have gotten it 'wrong' in a few instances. Time will reveal more of what happened, and I will wait for those revelations to make any judgements as to the appropriateness of the response.Â
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maybe he went to cut his junk off and realized that wouldnt help then charged the cops
The dead guy chose to not have his day in court. Most of us have managed to go our whole lives without being shot by the police. It isn't that difficult.
@Insurrection Who is against due process? I think everyone posting here knows, or should know, that this will be thoroughly reviewed. I feel strongly that if the police erred that they should be held accountable, but I donât start with the assumption that they erred. I donât need to start with the assumption that they were in the wrong as I donât hold a position to review their actions, and if I did I wouldnât be commenting here.
@Insurrection why is it okay for someone to try and take an officer life or harm them? This guy was warned multiple times. He did NOT listen. HE chose to continue what he was doing. There for he knew what the outcome would probably be. At 50 years old,when you have guns pointed at you,most of the time you have the common sense to do what your told. This man obviously didnt care. If you are a police officer are you really going to stand there and try EVERY option besides your gun? You would be probably be dead or seriously wounded by then. They chose the method they though was best suited. Go join the force and see what methods you would chose if it bothers you this much
case closed?
Based on the situation, sounds like the appropriate use of lethal force to me.
He came out of the bathroom with a knife and started threatening the cops. They told him to drop the knife,and he did not He may have wanted it to end,by suicide by cop,but at this point,it does not matter.All he had to do,was drop the knife .It sounds like,he had been cooperating with the cops,but I think one of the cops should have checked the bathroom out anyway,before allowing him to use it.
As a lifeline resident of The Dalles I can't remember when there was an officer shooting much less killing. I certainly don't fault the officers and I have no idea who the perp was. The law has to do what the law has to do.....it's as simple as that. They carry lethal weapons for a purpose, to protect society and themselves. If this country condones lethal actions as it does, then criminals must realize what the outcome could be.
Only a fool brings a knife to a gun fight.
That is classic right there!
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 @JTesla This sounds like suicide by cop to me.
Dont bring a knife to a gun fight!!! Knifes kill people everyday and when an officer is in danger they use the methods they have to. The guy had warning and chose not to listen,his damn fault. Another scumbag is off the street. Good job police officers.
Simple, swift, and effective punishment. Good job.
@2012 Hope and Change, The police don't have the legal right to judge, prosecute or punish people.
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They do have the right to defend themselves which this may have been but that is up to the investigation to determine and if the manner in which the defended themselves is warrented.
I firmly believe rape should carry the death penalty as the victims rarely fully recover. Also, pulling a weapon on police during a felony investigation is a request to be shot. My concern is why did the police allow the man to go into the bathroom?
@MickRoh Deadly force can beused when there is death or crippling injury to the innocent. The crippling injury can be physical or it can be mental . Rape is both so If you or i came across some maggot like this raping a girl or woman , well, make sure the girl or woman is out of the line of fire before you blow his head off. Cops did the right thing.
@MickRoh Well they can't shoot a man for going to the bathroom can they? I guess they could have tasered him, but that probably would have been a no-no even for Insurrection.
@MickRoh if they dont feel like they are in danger and they have searched them and not found anything on them sometimes they will let people go in their homes,or to the bathroom or so on. And unfortunatly it can go wrong. Lost a friend who was a police officer last october because the probation officer let the kid go back in his apartment and he came back out with a gun.
Never brandish a knife at people with guns, you will lose. The police did the right thing, they had no choice. Sounds like suicide by cop, another loser who couldn't take himself out so he puts police officers into the horrible position of having to do it.Â
 @Kachina You know they had no choice how exactly?
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Suicide by cop huh? You the psychologist for the crime scene investigation team? You have some inside information that is being left out of the article that you can share with us?
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Sorry don't mean to make it sound like a flame but uneducated comments like this should not be posted Kachina unless you have the ability to backup your statements with fact.
@Insurrection http://www.theppsc.org/Staff_Views/Tueller/How.Close.htm Note the distance of 21 feet in the article.
 @Insurrection  @Kachina This is a forum where opinions are given. I personally believe that suicide by cop is a possibility in this case as well. Lighten up Kachina.
 @ritfam  @Kachina Your right it is a possibility that was his intention but they did have other choices then the one they took.
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I refer back on one of my other posts about a KATU news article about Portland police using excessive force on those with mental illness and if it was suicide by cop this falls right into that category.
 @Insurrection  @Kachina Scenario: I come at you with a knife while being questioned about a felony involving a violent act, I refuse to remove my dangerous weapon after you tell me to stop. You have a gun and are authorized to use deadly force to stop me when you are threatened. If you don't try to stop me YOU are a IDIOT!!
 @BDOGG  @Kachina Well that is a very black and white view point.
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You by chance don't use that same method of deduction while driving do you?
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Sorry little off topic at the end there but you stepped into that one and couldn't resist.
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The problem is not that they tried to stop him it is the method they used to try and stop them. They had other options at there disposal.