Grand Jury to investigate Portland police killing of unarmed man

February 4, 2010

PORTLAND, Ore. - The killing of an unarmed man last Friday has created a controversy in the Portland community and prompted a grand jury investigation. Witnesses and residents are talking about the killing of an unarmed 25-year-old man and say the man was cooperating with police, had his hands over his head or on top of his head as requested but police officer Ronald Frashour shot him in the back last Friday night. A police spokesperson said the man was refusing to obey police orders and was a danger to the community.
 
At around 4:30 pm, police were called to the Sandy Terrace Apartments in the 12800 block of Northeast Sandy Boulevard. It was nearly 4:30 p.m. The person calling 9-1-1 said Aaron Marcell Campbell was suicidal and armed with a gun and that Campbell wanted to die from police gunfire.

Campbell’s girlfriend came out of the apartment and said her boyfriend was upset that his 23 year old brother, Timothy Douglass, had died earlier that day. She said three children were inside the apartment.

Police talked for nearly an hour with Campbell through text messages and at around 5:30 the children came out unharmed.

More than 90 minutes after police first arrived, Campbell abruptly emerged from the apartment, according to authorities. It initially appeared he would comply with officers but police said his actions suddenly changed and that he told the officers they would need to shoot him.

Police soon fired non-lethal beanbags at Campbell because he “began moving very quickly backwards and refused an officer’s commands to put his hands up in the air;”. Campbell kept his hands on his head. Police said Campbell was yelling at them to kill him.

After Campbell started running back toward the inside of the apartment Officer Ronald Frashour, an eight-year veteran, fired a single shot from his AR-15 rifle that struck Campbell who fell behind a vehicle. It was nearly a half hour later, after SERT officers arrived that police attempted to give Campbell medical care. They discovered he was dead.

Police said there was no weapon found on Campbell or near his body and in a press release they said Frashour’s decision to fire his rifle was made because he “was concerned about the safety of residents inside the apartments where Campbell was running toward, the safety of his fellow officers who were behind the apartments, and his own safety.” Police also said that after the beanbag rounds were fired at Campbell that he reached around to his waistband as he was running back toward the apartments.

Two witnesses said they believed Campbell was cooperating with police.

“He had his hands up, just like this,” said Kenny Boyer, who demonstrated by placing his hands on the back of his head. Boyer watched the entire incident unfold from his own apartment unit with his friend Robert Montgomery.

“He came completely out of the house with his hands on top of his head, backing up all the way from the aisle-way out towards the police cars,” Montgomery said. “He did say, ‘shoot me if you’re gonna shoot me - if you guys want to shoot me.’ But as everybody seen his hands were on top of his head.”

Boyer said after police shot Campbell with beanbag rounds, Campbell reached around where the rounds hit him.

“He was just doing that because the beanbag hurt,” said Boyer. “Then they shot him in the back.”

Another witness who wishes not to be identified and said he fears for his own life, said, "It's just another example of a cop killing an unarmed man because he could. That cop is a licensed killer. They don't need no excuse to kill cause they make it up on the spot man. They kill and they love it and you all know from experience no one is gonna do do a dmaned thing about it but talk. Just a lot of meetings and talk. It's going to happen again and again cause with these trigger happy cops this town's no better than Nazi Germany."

Police officer Frashour was placed on paid administrative leave.

Detectives met Tuesday with Campbell's mother and stepfather before releasing the additional details.

"I think they shared a perspective that best fits the reasons they done what they did," said John Davis, Campbell's stepfather. "I'm not saying the son did not do irrational stuff. We're not saying everybody was perfect. But what I do know is he did not have a weapon. The situation did not call for his death."

Pannell watched the events from his second-floor apartment. He said it appeared that Campbell was cooperating, walking backward toward officers with his hands behind his head.

"By his actions, he (Campbell) just did what anybody would have done when they were shot from behind with beanbags," Pannell said. "He just reached back there to where he was shot, and headed away from the beanbags.

"They (police) are the ones that made him run. They are the ones that made him reach towards his back."

A Multnomah County grand jury is expected to review the shooting - the first fatal shooting involving a Portland officer in 1 1/2 years.