PORTLAND, Ore. — Newly released bodycam footage from the Portland Police Bureau shows the moments before an officer shot and killed a man outside a Brentwood-Darlington apartment building during crisis negotiations.
Nicholas G. Thorn, 28, died from a single rifle shot fired by the officer. He was armed with a .22 caliber pellet air rifle, and new information from the investigation indicates that responding officers had reason to believe it was not a more deadly firearm.
It's unclear from the bodycam video why an officer, identified Thursday as Andrew Young, fired his rifle. Young is an officer assigned to the East Precinct, and has been with the bureau for seven years. He remains on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol for a police shooting.
According to a PPB narrative accompanying the bodycam video, officers responded shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 4 to a disturbance call from an apartment building on Southeast Lambert Street near 52nd Avenue. Callers reported hearing a man and a woman yelling at one another, and they believed there may have been children present.
Officers arrived in less than 15 minutes and walked up to a second-story apartment, where they knocked on the door. The narrative says they saw a man coming to the door with a rifle.
"Portland police ... hey! He's got a gun. Portland police, put the f---ing gun down," an officer can be heard yelling on the bodycam audio.
The man in the apartment, Thorn, can be heard yelling expletives back at the officers.
"I couldn't tell if it was a real rifle or if it's not, but we need to back out," the same officer says.
The officers run down the steps toward the parking lot before Thorn emerges from the apartment, holding the rifle. He can later be standing on the second-story veranda, gesturing with the rifle and shouting aggressively at the officers.
According to the narrative, more officers then arrived. With them was a negotiator from PPB's Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team. She can be heard talking to Thorn calmly over a PA system, trying to deescalate the situation and get him to come down the stairs. Thorn continues yelling defiantly.
The video indicates that Thorn pointed his rifle at the officers multiple times as they continued trying to negotiate, and the narrative claims that he "was also seen with a knife" and made threats that he would shoot and kill officers. An officer can be heard saying on the video that Thorn's knife was in his back pocket.
Police soon confirmed that the woman and children from the initial calls had gotten out safely, the narrative says.
"They also obtained information that the rifle was possible a .22 caliber pellet gun," the narrative continues. "At one point, Thorn shot the weapon into the air and stated that it was a pellet gun."
Negotiations with Thorn continued for over a half-hour, according to the video.
The crisis negotiator can be heard still speaking calmly to Thorn when Officer Young suddenly fires. No one, least of all the negotiator, seems prepared for Young to fire.
"Nick, you're saying a lot of things and I really want to hear what you're saying, and I don't want your neighbors to hear all of your business, I just want to give you privacy ... " the negotiator says just before Young fires his rifle. She swears loudly, as does another officer, and the video ends.
Officers tried giving Thorn first aid before an ambulance arrived, according to the PPB narrative, but he died at the scene. None of the provided video shows what happened in the wake of the shooting, with video from multiple officers' body-worn cameras cutting off immediately after the rifle shot.
"His family has been notified of his death that occurred following de-escalation tactics, including use of force warnings," a PPB statement said.
Investigators confirmed that Thorn had a .22 caliber pellet air rifle and a knife. Both are pictured in the video provided.
"This is just the first step in providing the facts, and more details will come as the investigation continues," PPB continued. "This includes what the officer or officers knew at the time of the incident. It is important to remember that this is still an active case, and there are legal processes, including a thorough review by the District Attorney, that must be followed to ensure fairness to everyone involved. For now, we are offering this footage and a brief summary to keep the community informed, while being mindful of the balance between transparency and the need for a complete and careful investigation."