smok signflz
JULY 1, 2019
7
Incident could have resulted
in serious injury or death
POLICE continued
from front page
Photo by Jennifer Clark
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George congratulates Dorene Gillespie for
receiving her GED diploma at the Graduation Celebration held on Friday,
June 21, at the Tribal gym. Six Tribal members were recognized for receiving
their GED diplomas at the celebration, in addition to others receiving various
certificates, diplomas and degrees.
Tribe honors 101 graduates
during June 21 celebration
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde honored 101 graduates for
earning eighth-grade promotion
certificates through doctoral de-
grees during the annual Gradua-
tion Celebration held Friday, June
21, in the Tribal gym.
Interim Education Department
Manager Bryan Langley welcomed
graduates and their families to the
celebration and the invocation was
delivered by Tribal Council Secre-
tary Jon A. George.
All graduates’ names will be add-
ed to a plaque that lines the wall in
the Adult Education Building.
“This event is to recognize the
accomplishments of our Tribal stu-
dents,” Langley said. “My favorite
aspect is seeing students who I
have worked with over the years
accomplish an educational goal
they set out to achieve. It is also
great when they come back to work
for the Tribe.”
After dinner, Willamina High
School graduate Trinity Sherwood
spoke and then eighth-grade and
high school graduates were hon-
ored.
After Eastern Oregon University
graduate and Acting Tribal Librar-
ian Harris Reibach spoke, GED
diploma and college graduates were
honored.
All eighth-graders received a
Pendleton wallet, and high school,
GED and associate degree gradu-
ates received a Pendleton saddle
blanket. Students earning bache-
lor’s degrees received a larger blan-
ket and those at the master’s and
doctoral degree levels also received
a Chinook carved paddle.
The Tribe’s Education Commit-
tee includes Tammy Cook, chair;
Michael Cherry, secretary; and
Valeria Atanacio, Michael Herrin,
Peter Grout, Shelby Maerz and
Chris Mansayon.
Tribal graduates honored were:
Eighth grade: Brooklyn Bailey,
Gage Bishop, Kai Connelly, David
Cooper, PJ Cureton, Daysia Duran,
Jaden Haller, Teya Hiebert, Future
Leno, Johnny McCormick, Hattie
Mercier, Bryanah Lopez, Kylie
Quinn, Kaleigha Simi, Shasta Sim-
mons, Donovan Smith, Kady Smith,
Kylie Smith, Hailey Tinoco, Denali
Williams and Cole Youso.
High school: Makenzie Aaron,
Miguel Adams, George Ankeney,
Ariana Bennett, McKenzie Colton,
Nick Colton, Christian Cooney,
Sydney Dizick, Dyami Eastman,
Brandon Gatchell, Tynan George,
Tessa Gilbert, Jacob Haller, Jurn-
ee Haller, Josie Justen, Kenneth
Kittleson, Dylan Knight, Kailiyah
Krehbiel, Evan Leno, Maleah Leno,
Saghaley Lewis, Austin Lewis-Lit-
tle, Dylan Page, Kalayo Peders-
en-Harmon, Austin Ravia, Kaleb
Reid, Jordan Reyes, JC Rogers,
Dakota Ross, Trinity Sherwood,
Kaelynn Simmons, Phillip Stryker,
Zailey Wacker and Lexus Williams.
GED: Madeline Ainsworth, Kay-
tee Ann Mata, Sasheen Baker,
Dorene Gillespie, Emma Leno and
Adam Martin.
Certificates: Katelynn Bliven,
Josh Biery, Heather Kent and Keri
Kimsey.
Associate degrees: Maxwell
Hale, Catherine Hill, Heather
Kent, John Liljequist, Jesse Lip-
pold, Julie Lomboy, Paxton Paraz-
oo, Shaylynn Shandy, Angie Smith,
Tajia Ulestad, Gary Westley and
Cheyenne Woods.
Bachelor’s degrees: Jeremy
Bailey, Sean Brooks, Shane Cooney,
Melanie Davis, Kory Ganuelas,
Genevieve Henny, Ashlee Hitch-
cock, Kaylee Jenness-Ardt, Jared
Kittleson, Kayla Kneeland, Kara
Langley, Rylie Lawrence, Lindsay
McCue, Cole Motheral, Melissa
Palanuk-Mercier, Helen Tonso and
Spencer Weiss.
Master’s degrees: Joren Clow-
ers, Sharrah McKenzie, Hannah
Portwood, Harris Reibach, Natalie
Thomas and Ashley Turley.
Doctorate degree: Stefanie
Swan.
the deputies were engaged in an
armed standoff with a subject who
was allegedly using methamphet-
amine and behaving in an extreme-
ly hostile manner.
Yamhill County Sgt. Don Stack-
pole, who was on scene, recalled
what happened in a letter to Tribal
Police Chief Jake McKnight.
“At several points during the en-
suing 30 minutes of that standoff,
there were multiple times where
I felt convinced that this incident
was going to result in the serious
injury or death of the subject and/
or law enforcement,” he said. “An
additional, aggravating factor was
that there was an elderly, bedrid-
den man trapped in the same room
as the armed subject.”
Due to the small space, there was
insufficient room for more than
the three officers who had initially
responded. When Flynn arrived, he
stood just outside in the hallway
and began attempting to find a
peaceful solution.
“At the time of the situation, the
goal was to find the safest resolu-
tion for all of the involved parties,”
Flynn said. “In order to meet this
goal we had to take all the innocent
bystanders out of harm’s way.”
With safety as a focus, Flynn
found a wheelchair in the hallway
and entered the room. He walked
over to the elderly victim and lifted
him from the bed into the wheel-
chair and out of danger.
“It should be noted that at the
time Officer Flynn entered the
scene, he was fewer than 12 feet
from a hostile subject who was
armed with multiple knives,”
Stackpole said. “The suspect was
also actively smoking methamphet-
amine. Officer Flynn did not hesi-
tate to place himself in harm’s way
to help save another person’s life.”
After the victim was evacuated,
Grand Ronde Tribal
Police Officer James “JJ” Flynn
Flynn remained on scene for sev-
eral hours to help police establish
a secure perimeter around the
home and stayed until the SWAT
Team from Oregon State Police
arrived.
“At no time during this multiple
hours-long ordeal did I ever see
or hear Officer Flynn exhibit any
amount of complaint or reluctance
to assist,” Stackpole said. “Indeed,
(he) went above and beyond the call
of duty.”
McKnight credits Flynn’s actions
to quick thinking, past experience
working at Sheridan Correctional
Institution and his law enforcement
field training officers.
“JJ is a smart kid,” he said. “He
found a solution and did it quickly
enough so that force didn’t have
to be used. It also speaks to our
relationship with Yamhill County,
and that he felt comfortable enough
with them to do that.”
Flynn said dangerous situations
are all a part of the job when it
comes to police work.
“It was kind of what I signed up
for and (helping to evacuate the
victim) is what needed to happen,”
he said.
Flynn is a 2010 Willamina High
School graduate and was hired by
the Tribal Police Department in
2018.
Biking the Rez
Photo by Jennifer Clark
Tribal Police Chief Jake McKnight and Tribal Council members Kathleen
George and Denise Harvey, along with many community members, get
ready to “Bike the Rez” on Saturday, June 15, at the Tribal gym. The
event, which was organized by the Tribe’s Social Services Department,
attracted approximately 20 participants.