By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian, Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Portland firefighters move the body of a man shot by police Jan. 25 on the roof of a downtown Portland parking garage.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office this afternoon released the transcripts from the grand jury review of the Jan. 25 Portland police officer-involved fatal shooting of Brad Lee Morgan.
Morgan, 21, died of a single gunshot wound to the head. The jury found no criminal wrongdoing by police.
The shooting occurred after Morgan had called 9-1-1 at 3:17 a.m., saying he had committed a robbery at knifepoint and was going to jump off a downtown parking garage.
Morgan also talked about shooting someone, and replied to a dispatcher when asked if he had a gun, “possibly,” police said. The dispatcher alerted officers the caller was talking about shooting someone and making “suicide by cop” statements, police said.
Central Precinct night shift Officer David Scott, who joined the bureau nine years ago, and Sgt. John Holbrook, a 15-year bureau veteran, located Morgan atop the SmartPark garage at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Morrison Street.
Police had called out Project Respond mental health crisis workers and members of the bureau’s Crisis Negotiation Team (formerly ‘Hostage Negotiation Team’) to help talk Morgan down.
Brad Lee Morgan
But before they arrived, Scott and Holbrook walked up to Morgan to try to talk him down from his perch.
At 4:01 a.m., police said the officer and sergeant saw Morgan, who was atop an elevator shaft on the southwest corner of the garage roof, pull out a black handgun and point it at them.
Both officers fired shots. A total of five gunshots were fired. One officer fired four shots; the other fired one.
The shooting occurred within 15 minutes of the officers’ request for crisis negotiators, who had yet to reach the scene, police said.
Police said Morgan’s handgun turned out to be a fake gun. Later, police located spray paint in Morgan’s backpack that he had used to make the toy gun look real.
Investigators found he had bought the toy gun at a North Portland Fred Meyer store the day before.
Morgan was struck by one bullet in the head, killing him. A second tore through his jacket. Two bullets were located at least a block away — one inside a building on Southwest Fifth Avenue, and another found by a pedestrian in a crosswalk on Southwest Fifth Avenue.
Family members said Morgan had been troubled by an on-again, off-again relationship and custody battles over his 8-month-old son.
Records:
Portland Police Bureau report on officer-involved shooting death of Brad Lee Morgan. (24 MB)
Volume 1, proceedings held 2/13/12
Det. Mark Slater, Portland Police Bureau
Transcript of 9-1-1 call from Brad Morgan
Larry Lewman, Oregon State Medical Examiner
Det. Michael Smith, PPB SERT Team
Korena Bartley, mother of Brad Morgan’s son
Transcript of voicemails from Brad Morgan to Korena Bartley
Certification of court reporter
Volume 2, proceedings held 2/14/12
Officer James Nett, Portland Police Bureau
Leland Samuelson, Oregon State Police Crime Laboratory
Officer Timothy Nathan Hoerauf, PPB
Certification of court reporter
Volume 3, proceedings held 2/15/12
Officer David Scott, Portland Police Bureau
Officer Max John Holbrook, PPB
Certification of court reporter
9-1-1 Audio Files
Brad Lee Morgan’s call to 9-1-1 dispatchers to report that he is suicidal (XX MB)
9-1-1 dispatcher and Portland police communications (first part)
9-1-1 dispatcher and Portland police communications (second part)
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