PORTLAND, Ore. — New court documents reveal more about what led up to an Oct. 3 deadly shooting at a La Mota cannabis store in the St. John's neighborhood. Jason Robert Steiner, 34, appeared in court Thursday and entered an initial plea of not guilty on two counts of second-degree murder, three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and an attempted murder charge.
Officers were dispatched at about 10 p.m. to a report of a shooting at the dispensary, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. They arrived to find a man later identified as 18-year-old King Lawrence dead and another man, 20-year-old Tahir Burley, who "appeared to be shot but still trying to breathe."
Medical aid was unsuccessful and Burley died at the scene. Steiner was nearby on the sidewalk, identified himself as the shooter and handed over a semi-automatic handgun with an empty extended magazine to police. Steiner's gun did not have a serial number, according to the document, and he told police he built it.
According to the affidavit, Steiner told detectives he had been the only employee working at the store that night. He heard a noise and came out of a back room to find three people pointing guns at him. Fearing he would be killed, he told investigators that he grabbed a bag from the back room with his gun in it and told the intruders that he was leaving and they could "take the store."
Steiner told police that the robbers allowed him to leave, but as he was exiting he heard one of them say something to the effect of "what does he have on him?" and he assumed they were talking about him, so once outside he drew his gun and waited at the door, expecting them to follow him out, according to the affidavit.
No one came out, and Steiner told police he then walked around to the building's drive-up window. He said he saw people inside and believed one of them had a gun in their hand in a "low ready" position, and Steiner decided this "was his chance" and he began firing through the window, continuing until he ran out of ammunition, then called 911.
Police later found 13 casings outside the building in front of the window, according to the affidavit, along with bullet strike damage "all over the interior of the dispensary."
When asked by police why he didn't just leave, Steiner said he was "a large man who could not get away from the three individuals if they decided to come after him," and that his car keys were inside the building and he was afraid they would get his car and "hunt him down," according to the affidavit.
The store had both interior and exterior surveillance video (without audio), according to the affidavit. Footage of the incident showed events unfolding similarly to what Steiner had described up until the point where he left the store. After that, the video showed him walk the length of the building and around a corner before drawing his gun.
"At that point, there was no apparent reason why Mr. Steiner did not leave the area," the affidavit states.
The footage showed that Steiner then walked back along the length of the building, passed the door without stopping and headed straight over to the drive-up window, where he began firing into the building "almost immediately," according to the affidavit.
Internal video showed none of the people in the store had guns in their hands at the time. The footage showed Lawrence and Burley being hit; the third person ducked, briefly hid and then ran out of the store. None of the three people appeared to fire back at Steiner, although Burley did draw his own gun before he stopped moving, according to the affidavit.
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission announced Friday that it has opened an investigation into the incident. The La Mota location has been licensed since May 2023 and has not had any previous violations issued by OLCC. There have been four previous reported robberies at the shop, according to the commission.
The shop is currently closed and does not have an anticipated re-opening date, according to OLCC.
