Wrongful Death Suit Filed
In July 2022, a Portland police officer fatally shot Aaron Stanton in front of his home after he discharged a handgun multiple times from his front deck.
A federal civil rights lawsuit claims that police and Officer Joshua Dyk utilized excessive force without making an effort to de-escalate the situation. He alleges that the police were negligent in not contacting the officers of the negotiation team or the officers of the bureau’s crisis response team.
Furthermore, they allowed the relative to communicate with Stanton by phone before fatally shooting him in the presence of his 6-year-old daughter.
Dyk, from the Bureau of Police’s Targeted Intervention Team, stated to a grand jury that he believed Stanton was going to shoot at his colleagues. As a result, he fired his AR-15 rifle and shot Stanton in the chest.
He began shooting shortly after Stanton’s daughter left the front deck and went into the driveway behind her father’s parked car. In December, a Multnomah County grand jury found Dyk not guilty of criminal wrongdoing.
The first 911 call was received on July 27, 2022, at around 8:15 p.m. Neighbors reported a man firing a gun into the air from his front deck in the 100 block of Southeast 126th Avenue. Approximately 20 minutes later, officers from a Portland police plane observed Stanton firing approximately 30 shots into the air before entering his home.
There were at least five officers in protective positions along 126th Avenue.
According to The Oregonian/OregonLive, last year, a neighbor named Jason Morris reported seeing Stanton firing three different guns into the air from the deck outside his front door. Stanton’s daughter was on the front deck, and the police attempted to move her to a safe location, according to Morris.
He stated that he ran from the deck to a shed at the end of the driveway behind the house. According to Morris, Stanton swiftly drew a handgun from the front of his waistband and aimed it at the police.
Morris did not testify before the grand jury hearing the case, but Teresina Arthur, another neighbor who lives across the street from Stanton, testified that she saw Stanton raise his gun and point it at the police officers while using his parked car as cover, according the grand jury records.
According to the lawsuit, Stanton has been diagnosed with mood disorders, bipolar disorder, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain in the past. According to the lawsuit, the conditions resulted in intermittent alcohol and drug abuse, psychotic behavior, and hospitalizations for mental health evaluations.
According to grand jury records, Stanton responded to police commands with obscenities, then pulled a handgun from his waistband and began reaching for them, as testified by Dyk.
At 8:54 p.m., Dyke fired a single shot at Stanton from a distance of 136 feet, causing him to fall to the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. He died at the scene.
Have you or someone you know experienced a tragic loss due to a violent incident?
Contact Goldberg & Loren today to schedule a free consultation and begin the process of seeking justice for your wrongful death claim. Our team is ready to fight for you.
Source:
Oregonian/OregonLive, M. B. (2023, November 29). Family of man killed by police as he fired gun outside his SE Portland house files wrongful death suit agains. Oregonlive. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/11/family-of-man-killed-by-police-as-he-fired-gun-outside-his-se-portland-house-files-wrongful-death-suit-against-city-officer.html
