Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, May 19,2004 - THREE
Grand Jury determines Morrow County Sheriff deputies justified in use of deadly force
E d ito r’s note: The
following is a press release
from the Morrow County
S h e r iff and the D istric t
A tto rn e y co n cern in g an
incident last month where a
man was shot and killed by
d ep u tie s on a d o m estic
disturbance call in Irrigon.
The release is printed in its
entirety.
The Morrow County
G rand Jury, after careful
deliberation of the evidence
p re sen te d on M ay 12,
determ ined tw o M orrow
County Sheriff’s Deputies
w ere ju s tifie d in using
deadly force against Shane
Richard Hartung on April
12, 2004. The Grand Jury,
after reviewing the autopsy
report, hearing testimony
from deputies Brian Snyder
and J e ff L am bier, and
O regon
State
Police
D etectiv e M ike D avis,
co n clu d ed no crim in al
charges were warranted as
both
d ep u tie s
used
reaso n ab le force, albeit
deadly force, to fend off
H a rtu n g ’s a ttack w ith a
m achete. B oth deputies
sustained serious injuries in
the attack.
M orrow C ounty
District Attorney, David C.
A llen , said, “ We are
satisfied the grand jury had
a clear understanding of the
events o f A pril 12. The
investigation completed by
the O regon State Police
revealed very clearly that
these officers were justified
in their actions. The grand
ju ry heard em otional
testimony today (May 12)
but deliberated for only five
minutes before making their
decision that the use of force
by the officers was justified.
I would like to thank the
Oregon State Police and all
the o th e r num erous law
e n fo rcem en t
agencies
in v o lv ed
in
this
investigation for their hard
w ork and p ro fessio n al
ap p ro ach
to
the
investigation of this tragic
event. The facts demonstrate
both officers followed the
force continuum as they are
trained to do. Non-deadly
force was used but was
unsuccessful in stopping the
violent attack by the suspect.
Deadly force was required to
stop this man. I would note
the officers would have been
ju stified in using deadly
force much earlier, however
the close q u a rte rs and
proxim ity of officers not
allow the use of deadly force
until they did. The officers
took the first clean shot they
had after being brutally
atta ck e d and seriously
wounded. I am relieved both
o ffice rs w ere not more
serio u sly in ju red . T his
in c id e n t h ig h lig h ts the
danger law enforcem ent
o ffice rs face everyday.
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MCSO Sheriff Veriin Denton (left) and Morrow County District Attorney David C. Allen (right)
gave a press conference to Tri-Cities television and local newspapers on Wednesday, May 12
concerning the grand jury decision in the officer involved death on April 12 in Irrigon
particularly in dealing with
domestic disturbance calls
and methamphetamine use.
B oth o ffice rs te stifie d
reg ard in g the unusual
stren g th
the
su sp ect
possessed. I attribute this
alm ost en tire ly to the
su sp ect’s chronic use of
methamphetamine and the
aggression it generates. We
will continue our efforts to
rid our communities of this
terrible drug.”
M orrow C ounty
Sheriff, Veriin Denton, had
this to say: “W hen
circumstances cause the use
o f deadly force by law
enforcem ent officers, the
unavoidable risk is that
someone will be killed or
serio u sly
injured.
Circumstances justifying the
use of force often happen
quickly in situations of great
physical and mental stress.
It is my opinion that these
two deputies used heroic
efforts to avoid having to use
deadly force against another
hum an being in the
performance of their duties.
Unfortunately, they were left
w ith no ch o ice, as the
investigation results clearly
indicate. Morrow County
has good reason to be proud
of these two deputies and all
the men and women of law
enforcem ent, em ergency
m edical serv ices and
com m unications deputies
that w ere involved that
tragic day. The Oregon State
Police are to be commended
for their professional and
thorough way they handled
the investigation. They have
my sincere thanks. To all
those who offered th eir
thoughts and prayers during
the last few weeks 1 wish to
convey the thanks of all the
staff at the sheriff’s office.
You make us proud to work
for you.”
D eputy
B rian
Snyder returned to work on
light duty May 10 and is
expected to resume his full
duties in a week. Deputy Jeff
Lambier will continue on
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medical leave for another
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medical care.
The following is an
outline o f the testim ony
heard by the M orrow
County Grand Jury this date:
On April 12, 2004 at
approximately 10:47 a.m.
M orrow C ounty S h eriff
Deputies Brian Snyder and
Jeff Lambier were at the
Morrow County Annex in
Irrigon when they were
notified by the sh e riff’s
office dispatch center that a
female caller reported that
she and her in to x icated
husband were fighting and
she wanted him to leave.
Both deputies responded to
the scene of the call, 625 SW
4th Street, Irrigon, OR. As
the deputies exited their
vehicles they saw a female,
later identified as the caller,
Laurie Hartung, standing in
the yard holding a baby. The
su sp ect, Shane R ichard
Hartung, 32, of Irrigon, was
standing in the door of the
resid en ce. The suspect
started y ellin g at the
deputies that they couldn't
com e in his house. The
d ep u ties noted that the
suspect appeared to be
intoxicated and agitated.
D eputy L am bier
walked towards the porch
w here the su sp ect was
stan d in g and asked the
suspect to come down the
steps and talk with them.
The suspect turned and went
back inside the residence
slamming the door. The door
struck a 2- or 3-year-old
child that had just appeared
beside him. The suspect then
reached out and grabbed the
child taking him inside. It
appeared that the child was
trying to leave the residence.
The deputies’ thoughts at
this point were whether the
child was injured or could
this turn into a barricaded
and/or hostage situation.
The suspect’s wife screamed
for the child and started
crying saying she wanted the
child out of the house. She
told the deputies that the
suspect had been breaking
things in the house.
D eputy L am bier
yelled to the suspect in the
house to come out and talk.
There was no reply. Deputy
Snyder asked the wife if
there w ere any guns or
weapons in the house? She
said no, he is a felon and
cannot have any (she later
admitted she knew about the
machete but did not know it
was in the house). Snyder
then asked her if the suspect
had been physically violent
towards her and she replied
“not today.” She went on to
identify the suspect as Shane
Hartung.
D eputy Lam bier
attempted to talk with the
su sp ect again as they
approached the front door of
the residence. There was still
no response. As the deputies
reached the front door the
suspect suddenly opened the
door and began yelling at the
deputies that they were not
coming in. Deputy Lambier
again asked the suspect to
step outside so they could
talk and he again refused.
Both deputies attempted to
look inside for the child and
could not see him. Deputy
Lambier put his foot on the
threshold so the door could
not shut.
Suddenly,
the
suspect tried to slam the
door without success and
then turned and ran into a
bedroom . Both deputies
followed and still didn’t see
the child. The suspect
entered a dark bedroom. The
su sp ect then suddenly
turned around and struck
Deputy Lambier in the head
w ith som ething. D eputy
Lambier went down to the
bedroom flo o r from the
blow to the head. The
suspect then hit Lambier a
second time in the head.
Deputy Snyder then came
into the room and tackled
the suspect. Deputy Snyder
saw the su sp ect strike
Deputy Lambier twice with
what he thought was a metal
object. Neither deputy had
identified what the suspect
was swinging at this point.
Deputy Snyder knew that
L am bier was dow n but
didn’t know how serious his
injuries were at this point.
Deputy Snyder was hit in the
head with the same object
that had knocked Lambier
down. Snyder was yelling at
the suspect to stop resisting.
The suspect pulled away
from Snyder and struck him
tw ice m ore in the head
stunning him (S nyder).
Deputy Lambier had fallen
back outside the bedroom
door into the living room.
The suspect pulled away
from Snyder and advanced
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if
if
if
com ing at Snyder again.
on Lambier. The suspect’s Snyder retreated down the
way to the front door was steps out into the yard telling
open and he could have left. the suspect to get down.
Instead Snyder saw him Snyder was exhausted and
raise the metal object above knew he could not repel
his head and strike Lambier another attack and if the
again on the head. Snyder suspect got a hold of his
got up and tried again to pull weapon he felt he would kill
the suspect off Lambier, him .
S nyder
y elled
grabbing him around the repeatedly for the suspect to
torso. The suspect seemed get down or he would shoot
very strong and broke him. The suspect continued
S n y d e r’s grip on him . to advance on him following
Snyder grabbed him again him out into the yard. Snyder
and was able to pull the turned to his left thinking he
suspect off Lambier. Snyder would give the suspect some
yelled at Lambier to use his space and maybe the suspect
taser on the suspect.
w ould ju s t leave. The
At
this
p o in t su sp ect co n tin u ed to
Lambier was suffering from advance turning with Snyder
blood loss and h aving and starting to over take
trouble seeing because of him. Snyder felt the suspect
blood in his eyes. Lambier intended to kill him. The
heard Snyder telling to use su sp ect got c lo se r and
a taser on the suspect. At this refused to follow his orders
point Lambier was able to to stop. Deputy Snyder fired
see that the suspect was one shot and the suspect
hitting at Snyder w ith a went down. Autopsy results
machete and until this time and ballistics comparisons
did not know that he had indicate the b ullet from
been hit with a machete. D eputy S n y d e r’s shot
Lambier fired his taser at the entered the suspect’s left
suspect and heard a yell. The chest area, coursing from
taser apparently had shocked right to left, front to back
both the suspect and Deputy and downward, perforating
Snyder causing them to the suspect’s left lung and
separate. The suspect then fracturing the left ninth rib.
began moving away from The bullet was recovered
D eputy S nyder tow ards from the chest cavity during
L am bier again. Lam bier the autopsy.
knew he could not fight off
Snyder at this point
the suspect as he was now saw Deputy Lambier stagger
extrem ely weak and was out of the house over to him
having a hard time seeing and then fall at his feet. A
because of blood in his eyes. short tim e la te r D eputy
L am bier y elled at the Karen Zeiler arrived on the
suspect to stop or he would scene
and
began
shoot him. The suspect administering first aide to
continued to advance on the deputies. Both deputies
Lambier. Lambier fired one were transported to Good
shot and the suspect went Shepherd H o sp ital for
down. Lam bier fell back treatment of the serious head
down to his knees. Autopsy wounds they had received.
resu lts and b a llistic s Both have made satisfactory
com parisons indicate the improvement and have been
b u llet
from
D eputy released from the hospital.
Lambier’s shot entered the D eputy L am b ier w ill
s u sp e c t’s rig h t cheek, continue to need medical
coursing from right to left, atten tio n to address his
fractured the suspect’s right injuries.
mandible and lacerated the
Investigation reveals
su sp e c t’s c aro tid artery that the su sp ect, Shane
before exiting through the R ichard H artung, has a
neck.
h istory o f A ssau ltiv e
Just before Lambier behavior tow ards law
tased them, Snyder had been enforcement, drug charges,
struck several more times w eapons
p o ssessio n ,
with the machete across his B urglary and dom estic
vest and on his head. Snyder violence in Clark County
had grabbed the machete to W ashington. He was
stop the attack and his right convicted of and served a
hand had been cut. That was prison sentence in the
when he realized that the W ashington
State
weapon was some kind of C o rrectio n s system for
sharp blade. The suspect let Assault II (class B felony)
go of the weapon and Snyder and Illegal Possession of a
dropped it on the floor. firearm (class C felony) in
Snyder saw the suspect get 1997. He also has a history
to his feet and shortly after of assault and drug charges
that he heard a shot. He saw in California.
the suspect go down. Snyder
An indication of the
got up and drew his weapon viciousness of the attack is
and was co v erin g the the large piece of human
suspect. He saw that scalp
from
D eputy
Lambier was bleeding badly L am bier’s head that was
so he moved to the door and found in the bedroom by
called for assistance and an in v e stig ato rs w here the
ambulance. As he was doing deputies were first attacked.
this he saw the suspect
Toxicology tests on
trying to get up. He yelled H artung indicate he had
at the suspect to stay down am phetam ine
and
and tried to shove him down m etham phetam ine in his
with his foot. Deputy Snyder system and a blood alcohol
was exhausted and having a co n ten t o f .04 percent.
hard time seeing because Hartung had two notable
blood was also in his eyes. tattoos: one on his abdomen
His weapon was slick with w hich stated ‘“ W hite
blood from the cut on his Pride”, while the other was
hand.
double barrels of a shotgun
The
suspect with a banner of the letters
regained his feet and started “FTW” on his right calf.
HEPPNER ELKS 358
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