Grand jury: No criminal wrongdoing in fatal police shooting

Associated Press

PORTLAND – A Multnomah County grand jury has found no criminal wrongdoing by two Portland, Oregon, police officers who shot and killed a 30-year-old man in North Portland last August.

The Oregonian reported officers Joshua Howery and Jake Ramsey both fired at Alexander Tadros on Aug. 27 after agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had called for help from Portland police.

Federal narcotics agents were attempting to serve a search warrant when an armed Tadros threatened to shoot the agents, according to court records.

The grand jury decision was announced Friday.

Two deputy district attorneys, assisted by two assistant attorneys general from Oregon’s Department of Justice, presented the case to the panel, which heard from more than 25 witnesses over two days of testimony.

Tadros fled from his apartment and barricaded himself in a different apartment, according to federal court records.

Both Howery and Ramsey fired at Tadros in an ensuing exchange of gunfire. Tadros died from a single gunshot wound.

The Police Bureau’s Special Emergency Reaction Team and Crisis Negotiation Team responded to the federal agency’s call for assistance. Officers began evacuating nearby apartment units for safety when one shot was fired from where Tadros was holed up, police said.

The shot pierced the wall of a residence and struck an officer in the hip, police said. An exchange of gunshots followed.

Howery and Ramsey, both of the Special Emergency Reaction Team, fired at Tadros, police said.