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Mayor asks FBI to investigate shooting
By Andrew Kramer, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | No comments posted.
PORTLAND - Police Chief Derrick Foxworth on Tuesday asked the FBI to open a civil rights investigation into the police shooting of James Jahar Perez.
The shooting, the second lethal encounter between Portland police and an unarmed black motorist in 10 months, also prompted Mayor Vera Katz to ask for a public inquiry.
"Sunday's shooting death by a Portland police officer of Jahar Perez has raised legitimate questions and concerns within our community," Katz said. "This incident should be reviewed openly so that the public hears all the relevant information."
Robert J. Jordan, head of the FBI office in Portland, said the FBI would open a preliminary investigation, followed by a full investigation if it is justified.
Several new details emerged Tuesday. Police officials said Officer Jason Sery, who fired the fatal shots, believed the 28-year-old Perez had a gun.
Police also disclosed that medical examiners conducting an autopsy of Perez found a bag containing a white substance inside his mouth. Crime lab tests are pending.
Katz's request for an inquiry put her on a collision course with the Portland Police Association, the police union.
"They show they care more for a person who had drugs and was a threat to the officer than for the safety of the officer," said Robert J. King, the union president. "This officer acted appropriately, and the review process will show that."
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk said he would hold a public inquiry within two to three weeks, followed by a grand jury hearing to decide whether Sery or his partner, Sean Macomber, should be charged with a crime.
King said Sery and Macomber, "are horribly discouraged, horribly disheartened" by the response of city authorities.
Sery fired three shots from his 9 mm pistol into the torso of Perez less than a minute after pulling him over for failing to use his turn signal, Foxworth said.
Macomber then fired a stun gun at Perez, who was either mortally wounded or dead, wearing a seat belt in his white Mitsubishi sedan.
An autopsy found Perez died from a bullet wound to the chest. Foxworth said he had never heard of an officer firing a stun gun at a suspect who had already been shot.
Under Oregon law, officers can use lethal force in self defense or to protect another person - or to prevent the escape of a suspect they believe may later kill somebody.
The shooting, the second lethal encounter between Portland police and an unarmed black motorist in 10 months, also prompted Mayor Vera Katz to ask for a public inquiry.
"Sunday's shooting death by a Portland police officer of Jahar Perez has raised legitimate questions and concerns within our community," Katz said. "This incident should be reviewed openly so that the public hears all the relevant information."
Robert J. Jordan, head of the FBI office in Portland, said the FBI would open a preliminary investigation, followed by a full investigation if it is justified.
Several new details emerged Tuesday. Police officials said Officer Jason Sery, who fired the fatal shots, believed the 28-year-old Perez had a gun.
Police also disclosed that medical examiners conducting an autopsy of Perez found a bag containing a white substance inside his mouth. Crime lab tests are pending.
Katz's request for an inquiry put her on a collision course with the Portland Police Association, the police union.
"They show they care more for a person who had drugs and was a threat to the officer than for the safety of the officer," said Robert J. King, the union president. "This officer acted appropriately, and the review process will show that."
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk said he would hold a public inquiry within two to three weeks, followed by a grand jury hearing to decide whether Sery or his partner, Sean Macomber, should be charged with a crime.
King said Sery and Macomber, "are horribly discouraged, horribly disheartened" by the response of city authorities.
Sery fired three shots from his 9 mm pistol into the torso of Perez less than a minute after pulling him over for failing to use his turn signal, Foxworth said.
Macomber then fired a stun gun at Perez, who was either mortally wounded or dead, wearing a seat belt in his white Mitsubishi sedan.
An autopsy found Perez died from a bullet wound to the chest. Foxworth said he had never heard of an officer firing a stun gun at a suspect who had already been shot.
Under Oregon law, officers can use lethal force in self defense or to protect another person - or to prevent the escape of a suspect they believe may later kill somebody.
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