TIGARD, Ore. — Attorney David Park is pleading for change on behalf of the family of Jacob Macduff, who was shot and killed by Tigard police in January 2021.
"You need to be politically active and make your desires known to your city council and mayor," Park said. "Don't let this be one moment."
Park and his co-counsel say an independent review and analysis of the deadly shooting, paid for by the Macduff estate, raises far more questions than answers. It starts, they say, from the moment police responded to Macduff's apartment.
"Not once did the police during their investigation consider that maybe Jacob was in a mental health crisis," attorney Scott Levin said. "It didn't cross their minds."
Attorneys and family argue that Macduff's mental health crisis explains why he was hiding in the cab of his pick-up truck. Officers surrounded the vehicle for approximately an hour before one officer shot less-lethal bean bag rounds into the truck. Another officer subsequently shot actual bullets, starting with five rounds and then, 18 seconds later, additional rounds.
"He waited 18 seconds at the window screaming show me your hands, which was more than adequate opportunity to move to a position of cover and safety," Park said.
A grand jury cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing, but the family's attorneys argue the investigation by the Washington County Major Crimes Team was botched from the start.
Attorneys say right after the shooting, the officer who fired the lethal rounds sat in the same vehicle with an officer who witnessed the whole incident. Attorneys say this would have allowed the two to craft a specific narrative.
"That's a huge violation of any kind of standard protocol for an investigation," Park said.
Park and his co-counsel say the predisposition to turn a blind eye is a structural barrier to police reform. They are asking for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate.
"This is a civil rights violation when a police officer unnecessarily takes the life of a citizen, and that's what happened here," Park said.
Tigard's police chief says she will work with the Washington County Major Crimes Team to evaluate the findings of the independent review and analysis.