One dead in Portland officer-involved shooting
A police officer opened fire on a shooting suspect’s car causing it to slam into an apartment in north Portland Saturday, authorities said.
The Special Emergency Response Team was called to the scene and determined that the driver was dead, said Lt. Robert King of the Portland Police Bureau.
Police were looking for a dark colored car after the driver reportedly shot at another vehicle with five people inside near Southeast 122nd Avenue and Southeast Division at 12:30 p.m., King said.
Police were searching for two white male suspects in their 20s who were in the suspect car. Officers learned the car was at a convenience store near North Columbia Way and North Fessenden Street, King said.
Police conducted a high risk traffic stop, and one passenger got out and cooperated with officers, but the driver of the car pulled out onto North Fessenden Street, King said.
An officer then fired his weapon at the car, which then drove through an exterior wall and into an apartment, King said.
The apartment was unoccupied and no one was inured.
The white adult male driver was killed.
One person was taken into custody.
Police identify victim from officer-involved shooting
From The Oregonian, July 29, 2012
Billy Wayne Simms, 28, was killed by Officer Justin Clary in North Portland.
The deceased man from Saturday’s officer-involved shooting has been identified as 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms.
The officer involved is Officer Justin Clary, a 10-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau assigned to North Precinct.
Clary fatally wounded Simms in North Portland Saturday, just an hour after an occupant of the same car allegedly fired at a vehicle in southeast Portland.
Simms then smashed into the exterior wall of a nearby apartment, where he was found dead.
The incident began with officers responding to a call of a shooting at Southeast Division and 122nd Avenue.
Investigators learned that five people were in the car that was shot at on 122nd at Southeast Division. The car contained 47-year-old Paul Polen and four other occupants ranging in age from 14 to 23.
Investigators believe Simms shot at Polen and the other occupants before officers arrived on the scene. They have also learned that Simms is believed to be one of three suspects involved in an armed robbery of marijuana on July 23 from a residence located in the 10400 block of Southwest Division St.
The victim of the robbery gave officers the license plate of the suspect vehicle that matched Simms’ car.
Simms was identified again as a suspect again on July 20 by attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 at the McDonalds at 10050 S.W. Barbur Blvd.
Investigators have processed the suspect vehicle for evidence and found a handgun in the car.
The investigation is continuing, but the Multnomah County Districts Attorney’s Office will convene a Grand Jury. The Portland Police Bureau will also conduct an Internal Affairs Investigation following the Grand Jury.
Detectives are asking anyone with information about this case to contact Detective Rico Beniga at 503-823-0457.
Police ID man killed in officer-involved shooting
SERT officers at the scene of the shooting.
Police have identified the man killed by a Portland police officer Saturday afternoon as 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms.
Police said an officer opened fire during a high risk stop in the parking lot of a 7-11 and Shell gas station on North Columbia Way and North Fessenden.
Lt. Robert King, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said Simms was wanted for an attempted shooting earlier in the day near Southeast Stark and 122nd. When officers spotted the car Simms had been driving, they tried to stop him and another suspect as they were leaving 7-11.
King said one of the men cooperated but Simms didn’t comply, instead officers say he drove away and was shot by Portland police officer Justin Clary, a 10-year veteran.After Clary fired, Simms crashed the car into an apartment building across the street. Simms was pronounced dead at the scene.
No one was home, but next door neighbor, Meka Curry, said she heard four or five shots then what felt like an earthquake.
“The shots came first then the car,” Curry said.
Investigators said five people were in the car Simms is accused of shooting at in Southeast Portland.
Simms family released a statement Sunday night saying:
After receiving several phone calls informing us our family member had been shot by the police, we rushed to the scene only to sit and wait for SEVEN HOURS before we were given confirmation that the deceased was, in fact, our family member Billy Simms. The lack of information from the Portland Police Bureau was very disrespectful to an entire family including nieces, nephews, and a younger brother who was receiving information through twitter and other media outlets. Other family sitting at the scene had to endure the unknown as they watched the body being pulled from the vehicle at a distance, still unsure if the victim was indeed related to us.
Investigators believe Simms was involved in an armed robbery of a marijuana grow at a home in the 10400 block of Southwest Division on July 23. Officers said three suspects stole marijuana plants from a man at gunpoint, firing a shot inside the house before leaving. The victim in the marijuana robbery gave police a vehicle description matching the vehicle Simms was driving Saturday afternoon when he was shot at 7-11.
Detectives believe Simms was also involved in an incident at McDonald’s, located at 10050 Southwest Barbur Boulevard, on July 20 when suspects tried to use counterfeit twenty dollar bills. Witnesses from McDonald’s also described the same vehicle Simms was driving Saturday.
Several North Portland streets were closed for more than nine hours Saturday as homicide investigators looked into the shooting. Police Chief Mike Reese and Mayor Sam Adams were on scene Saturday afternoon.
Portland police officer placed on paid administrative leave after fatal shooting
From The Oregonian, July 29, 2012
The man whom a police officer fatally shot Saturday was believed to be involved in several recent crimes, Portland police said Sunday.
The dead man, Billy Wayne Simms, 28, of Portland, was shot by Justin Clary, a 10-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau assigned to North Precinct.
Clary shot Simms in North Portland on Saturday as Simms was driving away from a 7-Eleven on North Fessenden Street. After Clary fired, the vehicle the wounded Simms was driving smashed into the exterior wall of a nearby apartment, where he was found dead.
Police aren’t saying whether Simms showed a gun or what threat he posed at the time. Lt. Robert King, a police spokesman, declined to say what prompted Clary to shoot.
The investigation is pending and Clary is on paid administrative leave, King said.
The incident began with officers responding to a call that the driver of one car had shot at another car at Southeast Division and 122nd Avenue.
Paul Polen, 47, and four others ranging in age from 14 to 23, were in the car that was fired on. They were not injured.
Investigators believe Simms shot at the car before officers arrived on the scene.
About an hour later, police learned that the car involved in that shooting was in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven. When the occupants of the vehicle came out of the store, Simms fled in the vehicle and was shot.
He is also believed to be one of three suspects involved in menacing with a gun about 12:20 p.m. Saturday at a residence in the 14100 block of Southeast Division. This was immediately before the shooting at 122nd and Division.
Police said Simms was thought to be one of three suspects involved in an armed robbery of marijuana July 23 from a growing operation at a residence in the 10400 block of Southeast Division Street, police said.
In that case officers learned that three suspects stole marijuana plants at gunpoint and one of the suspects fired a gun in the house before leaving. No one was injured.
The robbery victim gave officers the license plate of the suspect vehicle and it matched the car Simms was driving at the 7-Eleven.
And Simms was identified as a suspect when a man attempted to pass a counterfeit $20 bill July 20 at a McDonald’s at 10050 S.W. Barbur Blvd. In Portland.
After Saturday’s fatal shooting, investigators processed the suspect vehicle for evidence and found a handgun.
The Multnomah County district attorney’s office will convene a grand jury in the case.
The Portland Police Bureau also will conduct an internal affairs investigation into the shooting.
Detectives ask anyone with information about this case to contact Detective Rico Beniga at 503-823-0457.
Police identify man killed by officer in north Portland
Portland police have released the names of the people involved in Saturday’s deadly officer-involved shooting.
Police said 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms was shot by Officer Justin Clary, who is a 10-year veteran of the police bureau.
Detectives spent all evening investigating a case of road rage that ended when they said Clary fatally shot Simms in north Portland.
Lt. Robert King, a spokesman with the Portland Police Bureau, reports that officers responded to the area of Southeast 122nd and Division at 12:28 p.m. to reports of shots fired in the area.
Police said Simms was the driver of a dark-colored car who shot a handgun at another car that had three innocent people in it as they traveled south on 122nd.
Police soon came across the car with Simms inside at a 7-11 parking lot in north Portland.
Investigators said officers confronted two men who had been in the car as they left the store.
“One suspect complied and was taken into custody, and one man got in the car, started it and drove out of the lot. In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon,” said King in a news release.
The car ended up crossing Fessenden and crashing into an unoccupied unit in an apartment building.
“It felt like we had an earthquake right after that,” said Meka Curry, who was in the apartment next to the one that was hit.
After the car came to a stop, police called out the Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) to assist with taking the suspect into custody.
Police said that after SERT made contact with Simms, paramedics determined he was already dead.
A spokesman said it was too early to tell if the suspect fired any shots at the officers or if he returned fire. Neighbors told FOX 12 that they heard multiple gunshots.
“I heard like six shots like three, ‘Boom, boom, boom,’ and then like, ‘Boom, boom, boom,'” said Mike Conway, who lives nearby.
The investigation continues.
‘They approach the situation like they’re trained to’
A driver was shot by police Saturday afternoon in a deadly officer-involved shooting.
The incident began in Southeast Portland and ended in North Portland, where a car crashed into an apartment building after an officer fired at the driver.
The driver was killed but until police could confirm that, they waited with guns drawn and activated their Special Emergency Response Team (SERT).
Police believed the man, and the car he was in, were involved in a shooting in Southeast Portland a couple of hours earlier.
“You basically have like innocent citizens in their car driving at 122nd and Stark and they’re shot at,” said Lt. Robert King, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.
The investigation led police to the suspect vehicle parked in front of a 7-Eleven store in North Portland.
“They approach the situation like they’re trained to,” said King. “To conduct these high risk stops where they call people out and they have them at gunpoint. And one person did get out of the car and cooperate but it was the driver who backed out and pulled away.”
Witnesses said they then heard between four and eight shots. Police have not confirmed how many shots there were, but they did say that just one officer fired a weapon.
“They just unleashed on him,” said witness Robbie Mills. “Never seen anything like it in my life.”
The car ended up crashing into an unoccupied apartment. Right next door, in the same building, Meka Curry and her children felt the impact.
“It sounded like an earthquake,” Curry said. “That’s what we thought – that it sounded like an earthquake.”
Here’s the Portland Police Bureau’s account of what happened, including a correction that was later sent out:
Correction: Officers confronted two men who had been in the suspect car as they exited the Seven Eleven. One suspect complied and was taken into custody and one man got in the car, started it and drove out of the lot. In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon.
On Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 12:28 p.m. Portland Police officers assigned to East Precinct responded to a call of a shooting at Southeast Division and 122nd Avenue. Initial information was that the driver of a dark colored car shot a handgun at another car that contained three people as they traveled south on 122nd Avenue. The suspect car was believed to be occupied with three white males in their twenties.
Officers learned through their investigation that the suspect car was in the area of Columbia and North Fessenden. Officers arrived in the area and saw the suspect car in the 7-Eleven parking lot. Because this car and its occupants had just shot at another car officers conducted a high risk traffic stop.
One passenger got out and cooperated with officers but the driver of the car pulled out of the lot and drove onto Fessenden. In the course of the stop one Portland Police Officer fired his weapon. Following the shot the car drove across Fessenden and through an exterior wall and into an apartment. The apartment was unoccupied and no one was injured.
After the car came to a stop in the apartment Officers called the SERT Team (Special Emergency Reaction Team) to the scene to assist in taking the suspect into custody. Once SERT made contact with the driver they had Portland Fire paramedics check the drivers condition and they learned he was deceased. The driver is a white adult male.
Supervisors on scene called the Police Bureau Homicide Detectives to the scene to conduct the officer-involved shooting investigation.
The Multnomah County District Attorneys Office and the Director on the Independent Police Review Division were on scene as well along with Police Chief Mike Reese and Mayor Sam Adams.
The suspect who was shot dead was later identified as 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms.
The incident was the second officer-involved shooting in the last week and a half. On July 17, police shot a 17-year-old boy in Southeast Portland. The teenager survived.
Police: Suspect shot by officer had been showing off handgun
Police: Suspect runs during ‘high risk’ stop, later shot at by officers
Police Training in These Types of Situations
There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to Oregon law enforcement shooting at people in vehicles. Officers are trained to consider the back stop (who and what is around them) as they open fire and who might be injured by a stray bullet.
They are also trained to consider the big picture of the situation, which can include the type of person who is fleeing and whether that person would pose an imminent threat to the life of the officer or others in the area.
Firing at someone in a vehicle can be a sticky situation for police. For example, the 2003 shooting death of Kendra James prompted her family to sue the city for $10 million.
James was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for a traffic violation in Northeast Portland near Interstate 5.
Officer Scott McCollister said he shot and killed her when she jumped in the driver’s seat and tried to get away. He said he feared he or another officer would be killed, although James was not armed.
Both a Multnomah County grand jury and a federal jury found that the officer’s actions were justified and her family lost the lawsuit.
McCollister returned to the force and received $18,000 in back pay for the six months that he was suspended without pay.
In 2004, Officer Jason Sery shot James Jahar Perez three times during a traffic stop in North Portland.
According to court testimony, Perez ignored police commands and reached into his pants pocket. Sery thought he was reaching for a gun. It turned out he wasn’t.
“I remember seeing him glance over, shift in his seat to move his leg and get better access to his pocket,” Sery testified at the time. “I remember his hand going deep in his pocket. I remember starting to scream ‘I’m going to shoot, I’m going to shoot – get your hand out, I’m going to shoot.’ ”
Sery was cleared of wrongdoing three times and four years later he joined the Beaverton Police Department as one of its police officers.
The City of Portland settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Perez’ family for $350,000.
Of course, those cases were different from this one. In this instance, the suspects were armed.
Vigil for man shot and killed by police
Billy Simms memorial July 30, 2012
Family and friends gathered at the site of a crash in north Portland to remember a man shot and killed by police.
They left signs and candles on North Fessenden Street Monday night in memory of Billy Simms.
Police said they tried to pull over Simms in connection with a road rage shooting on Saturday. But according to officers, he drove off.
That’s when officer Justin Clary took a shot at the car, killing Simms and causing the car to crash into an apartment building.
No one else was hurt.
People who knew Simms are still in shock.
Friends described him as a good dad, a good friend and someone who cared about the people around him.
He was the father of four children.
His family released a statement saying, “Billy had been working hard to confront his demons and had recently graduated from rehab.”
Police said Simms shot at a car full of people at Southeast 122nd and Division on Saturday afternoon in a case of road rage.
Simms was also a suspect in an armed robbery at a marijuana grow house the week prior.
The victim in that robbery case gave officers the suspect’s license plate number, which matched the car Simms was driving when police said he fired at that car full of people on Saturday.
Family of man shot by police wants answers
Family of the man shot and killed by police last weekend said they’re outraged over how officers dealt with the suspect and his relatives.
Police said Billy Simms, 28, was attempting to elude officers who were chasing him for allegedly firing a gun at a car with five occupants inside. An officer fired at Simms and he later died of gunshot wounds, according to Lt. Robert King of the Portland Police Bureau.
Family members said they sat at the scene and pleaded for information for seven hours, even watching a body bag taken away and wondering if it was Billy.
“During the seven hours we were not given any further information,” family members said in a written statement released to the media. “After demanding to speak to a sergeant or person in charge, a female officer approached our family still unable to inform us if in fact Billy was the involved party.”
Family members said they were finally informed that Billy was dead just before 1 a.m. They said he was a loving father of 4 who had recently completed rehabilitation, and did not deserve to be gunned down by police.
“Billy had been working hard to confront his demons and as recent as 6 months ago graduated from rehab, something we were all very proud of him for,” the family statement said. “Billy’s life could have been saved if Portland police thought of him as a person, not a felon.”
Investigators said Simms was suspected of menacing with a gun at a Southeast Portland home just before the alleged shooting. He was also suspected of trying to use counterfeit money at a Portland McDonald’s restaurant on July 20 and police believe he was involved in the robbery of a medical marijuana growing operation on July 23rd.
Issue of firing at moving cars examined in fatal shooting by Portland police
From The Oregonian, July 30, 2012
This impromptu memorial developed in North Portland near the spot where Billy Wayne Simms, 28, was fatally shot by police on Saturday.
The Portland Police Bureau will evaluate whether a North Precinct officer who on Saturday fatally shot a motorist who then crashed into an apartment building acted within bureau policy that restricts officers from shooting at moving vehicles.
The 3-year-old policy says that an officer “shall not” fire at someone who is in a moving vehicle unless at least one of the following conditions is met:
- It’s necessary “to counter an active threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person, by a person in the vehicle, using means other than the vehicle.”
- There are no other means available to avert or eliminate the threat.
Even if one of those conditions is met, officers are instructed before firing to consider the location, the surrounding vehicle and pedestrian traffic and the risk to innocent bystanders.
The officer, Justin Clary, a 10-year bureau veteran, is on paid administrative leave while an investigation continues.
On Monday, the fiancee of the man who was shot and killed, Billy Wayne Simms, 28, voiced concerns about the police shooting as a memorial grew at the scene.
“It could have been dealt with a totally different way,” said the fiancée, Jeannie Lovett, 38.
Portland police say they believed Simms had shot at another car in Southeast Portland on Saturday.
North Precinct police spotted the car Simms was thought to be driving, at the 7-Eleven at 6840 N. Fessenden St. Officers confronted two men as they left the convenience store. One man was taken into custody, police said, while Simms got into the car, started it and drove away.
“In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon,” police said in a news release.
Police said Clary fatally wounded Simms, who then drove into a fenced yard and through a sliding glass door of a two-story apartment building. Police found him dead at the scene.
The Police Bureau has not said whether Simms showed a gun or what threat he posed at the time. Investigators processing the crime scene later found a handgun in the vehicle.
It remained unclear whether Clary shot Simms before or after he got behind the wheel of the car.
Lovett said she was upset by the way police handled the confrontation with Simms.
“Just because there was an assumption that he had a gun earlier, before the whole incident, didn’t mean that he had a gun at the time that he was caught at 7-Eleven,” she said.
Lovett said she and Simms had a 19-month-old daughter together and were picking a date to be married. Lovett said someone called her about the shooting on Saturday, and she arrived at the scene shortly afterward.
Police had said one suspect was in custody and one was dead. Lovett caught a glimpse of the man being arrested, and one thing became clear to her.
“It sure wasn’t Billy that was going to jail,” she said.
Janie Althaus, third from left, was among about 70 people who attended a candlelight vigil for Billy Wayne Sims II, 28, who was fatally shot by police on Saturday. Althaus is one of Simms’ sisters.
Meka Curry, who was home in a neighboring unit of the apartment that Simms ended up driving into, heard more than four gunshots. Then she felt the impact as the car rammed the tan building. Her boyfriend, six-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son were home with her, she said.
“I went straight into shock,” Curry said Monday, her eyes filling with tears. “We ended up on the floor, wondering ‘where should we be? Should we be on the floor? ‘ ”
Curry, who is studying to be a paramedic, said the shooting left her unnerved. “I feel like I’m going through post-traumatic shock,” she said. “I haven’t eaten. I haven’t slept. I can’t study. I hear a car backfire and I think it’s happening again.”
Portland detectives are investigating the fatal shooting, and the case will be presented to a Multnomah County grand jury for review. That will be followed by a police internal affairs investigation to determine whether Clary followed bureau policy.
Many major police departments have set restrictions similar to Portland’s on firing at moving vehicles. Others have prohibited the practice. The Los Angeles Police Commission in 2005 adopted a policy that prohibits firing at moving vehicles unless officers are being fired upon or threatened with deadly force from someone within the vehicle. Boston, New York and Chicago also prohibit officers from firing into moving vehicles unless someone inside is shooting.
About 70 people attended a candlelight vigil for Simms late Monday near the spot where he was killed.
Lovett said that Simms, in addition to her child, had three other children with two women. The children are ages 6, 4, and 14 months.
Grand jury finds no criminal wrongdoing by officer who shot Simms
By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian, August 10, 2012
A Multnomah County grand jury on Friday found no criminal wrongdoing by Portland Police Officer Justin Clary in his July 28 fatal shooting of Billy Wayne Simms in North Portland.
Transcripts of the grand jury proceeding may be released by late next week, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office.
Portland police say they believed Simms, 28, had shot at another car in Southeast Portland on July 28.
North Precinct police later in the day spotted the car Simms was thought to be driving, at the 7-Eleven at 6840 N. Fessenden St. Officers confronted two men as they left the convenience store. One man was taken into custody, police said, while Simms got into the car, started it and drove away.
“In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon,” police said in a news release.
Police said Clary fired at Simms, who then drove into a fenced yard and through a sliding glass door of a two-story apartment building. Police found him dead at the scene.
The Police Bureau has not said whether Simms showed a gun or what threat he posed at the time. Investigators processing the crime scene later found a handgun in the vehicle.
I want to know why the police just open fire and kill. Not only did they kill the young man, they could have killed many more on the street and in the apartment. Is this legal? Stealing weed and or using a fake $20.00 at McDonalds should not end up with a death, and it could have been much worse. Had he pointed a gun at the police it would have been different. This was someone running away. What is the law in a case like this? Any thoughts out there?
I to wonder why they would shot at a man driving a vehicle. They put so many other in danger and wasn’t even sure that this Billy Simms was really involved in the earlier shooting. He was suspected as being in it. Don’t these cops understand that suspected doesn’t mean it was him? The man could have been scared or drug impeared and unable to even think straight, which already put a high risk with him driving. But instead they shoot and kill and then he runs into an apartment building where children could have been playing outside or even just people talking to each other outside. Some times these cops think they are both the judge and jury and it really needs to stop.
I would like to know why the police had to shoot him 6 times? When someone is driving away an you kill them where do you expect the car to go? The police officer who shot Billy did not know if anyone was at home in that apt. If they were home at least 4 more people would have died with Billy. What ever happened innocent till proven guilty.
The myth of “innocent” till proven guilty is, finally, being exploded before our eyes. In fact, this haggard truism has no basis in law. If the state didn’t presume guilt, it wouldn’t require you be thrown in jail before any evidence was gathered and would allow most (except obviously or admittedly guilty) persons to await trial free of incarceration. Today however, it is much more expedient for authorities to hold persons incommunicado; without hope of obtaining legal aid or to gather facts for their own defense and away from friends and family who might be able aid them or vouch for them. It makes conviction so much easier and cheaper and certain.
The Supreme Court of the United States freely admits that the presumption of innocence is strictly a “technical necessity” and, more or less, amounts to window dressing, that no actual presumption of innocence exists once a defendant is jailed. Make no mistake about it . . . once you have been charged the onus is on you to prove your innocence your gilt is presumed.
I would have shot him 6 more times just to be sure….this guy was a total loser who shit all over his family and friends. On another site one guy said it best: Had the friends and family been telling the truth, they would have said, “We are mourning the loss of a cheap meth connection and source of free food stamps…”
now the police just have to keep moving forward to the rest of his gang, and the other related crankster gangster ragtags out there…
If you knew what you were talking about that would be one thing, but you don’t know. The Portland Police have been getting away with murdering people for years. Shoot first, back track later. Lie lie lie.