From the Medford Mail Tribune, January 7, 2012

The 20-year-old Medford man gunned down Thursday by two U.S. Marshals Service deputies outside Albertsons was a habitual criminal with drug and mental-health problems and a history of assaulting police officers, records show.

But family members say that did not mean an apparently unarmed James “Jimmy” Georgeson deserved to be shot dead after he allegedly attempted to crash his Dodge Durango into the car of agents trying to arrest him for violating his federal probation for assaulting a U.S. marshal in 2009.

“Jimmy was no angel by any means, and he was a runner,” stepfather James Harrison of Medford said Friday. “But he’s not your Top 10 America’s Most Wanted, just a dumb kid who made bad choices under the influence.

“He didn’t deserve what happened,” Harrison said. “He didn’t deserve to be shot. It could have been handled in a completely different way.”

READ – Georgeson’s Family Speaks Out, KDVR.com, January 6, 2012
READ – Medford police ID 20-year-old man killed by marshals, Albany Democrat Herald, January 6, 2012
READ – Fatal showdown – Marshals shoot and kill wanted Medford man in parking lot, Medford Tribune, January 6, 2012
READ – Police chief: Investigation will be time consuming, KTVL.com, January 5, 2012
READ – Police release name of man killed in shooting, KTVL.com, January 5, 2012
READ – Businesses stayed open after shooting, KTVL.com, January 5, 2012
READ – Family of man killed in West Medford planning legal action, KTVL.com, January 5, 2012

On the morning after the 5:22 p.m. shooting outside the front door of the Albertsons store on Medford’s West Main Street, family members and the community at large continued to hope for details that would explain why at least two marshals opened fire during their arrest attempt in the bustling retail complex.

A memorial blossomed near the spot where Georgeson died. Flowers, balloons and signs dedicated to Georgeson were placed on a light pole. Some of the signs were critical of law enforcement.

Georgeson’s family members gathered at an East Main Street house in Medford, where a woman who identified herself as Georgeson’s mother, Seppie Greico, sobbed on the front stairs and said she considered the shooting tantamount to “murder.”

U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Eric Wahlstrom said that Georgeson used his vehicle as “a deadly weapon” just before two deputy marshals fired shots, but neither the service nor Medford police have identified the marshals involved nor said how many shots were fired.

Businesses stayed open after shooting

Police shooting investigation will be time consuming

Police Press Conference

Family of Jimmy Georgeson killed in West Medford planning legal action

“Initially, there is no indication that he (Georgeson) had a weapon other than the vehicle, but we’re still investigating,” Medford police Chief Tim George said. “He was the driver. It’s too early to tell if there was a weapon in the car.”

George said two other people whom he declined to identify were in the vehicle at the time of the shooting and were unharmed. Those people were detained, interviewed and released Thursday, he said.

As a matter of policy, the two deputy marshals were placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, Wahlstrom said. The Marshals Service has three deputies and a supervisor assigned to its Medford office, but Wahlstrom declined to say whether the deputies involved were from the Medford office.

George refused to discuss other details of the case, other than to say the Marshals Service was “absolutely” cooperating with police in their investigation.

More than two dozen officers were working various aspects of the case Friday, George said. Once completed, the case will be turned over to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office for presentation to a grand jury, George said.

“That’s how all officer-involved shootings happen in Jackson County, regardless of who is involved,” George said.

The agents were trying to arrest Georgeson on a Dec. 21 warrant for violating the conditions of his federal probation by walking away from an inpatient drug-treatment program ordered by a federal judge in October.

Harrison said he last saw Georgeson on Tuesday and that “he looked really bad and was tired of not making right decisions.

“I bugged him to turn himself in, and he was ready to do that,” Harrison said. “It just happened too late.”

Harrison said Georgeson never carried weapons and he was convinced Georgeson was unarmed at the time of the shooting.

Federal court records filed in Georgeson’s 2010 conviction for assaulting a U.S. marshal detail a lengthy criminal, drug and mental-health history for Georgeson, who grew up in Talent and attended Phoenix-Talent schools until the 11th grade.

Before his April 2010 sentencing to two years in prison for the assault, his juvenile and adult crime record included convictions for theft, assault, burglary, possession of the drug Ecstasy and assaulting a police officer — enough at age 18 to end up just shy of the highest criminal-history category used in his federal sentencing, according to a sentencing memo.

His attorney at the time filed court papers saying Georgeson was a ward of the court at age 12, had been treated for mental-health conditions since that age and was diagnosed as having various drug dependencies and anti-social personality traits.

Harrison said Georgeson was in and out of juvenile and adult detention centers and habitually used various drugs, particularly methamphetamine.

“He just couldn’t stay out of trouble,” Harrison said.

Georgeson found his way into the federal penal system almost by mistake.

He was hiding in a bathroom of a Talent house on June 25, 2009, when marshals showed up in search of a fugitive, court records state. The house’s occupant told marshals that the unidentified fugitive was not present, but acknowledged that someone was hiding in the bathroom, records show.

Unknown to marshals, the man in the bathroom was Georgeson, high on the drug Ecstasy. Though he was wanted on a local warrant for a probation violation, he was not the target of the marshals’ search, records show.

After marshals knocked on the bathroom door and identified themselves, Georgeson fled through the bathroom window and the agents chased after him into a nearby apartment complex, records show.

They tracked him to an apartment, where marshals again identified themselves and said they had a warrant, records show. After agents forced their way into the apartment, Georgeson lunged at an agent from behind in an attempt to tackle him, according to a federal sentencing memorandum.

The marshal fought with Georgeson, shooting him with an electronic stun gun three times before he was subdued, the sentencing memorandum states.

A drug test after his arrest showed cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy in his system, court records state.

After serving part of his two-year federal prison sentence in April 2010, he was back in Jackson County on federal probation some time last year, records show. He was convicted on Oct. 10, 2011, for violating the condition of his parole by using illegal drugs, but was not jailed at the time, records show. Instead, he was ordered into an inpatient drug treatment center, from which he walked away. That led to the warrant that prompted marshals to attempt Georgeson’s arrest Thursday.

Georgeson’s Family Speaks Out

From KDRV.com, January 6, 2012

The family of the man shot and killed by U.S. Marshals during an arrest are calling the incident “murder”.

The family believes Jimmy Georgeson was murdered last night. They are actively persuing a case against the marshals who killed Georgeson and rallying support from the rest of the community.

They’ve placed signs outside their home and posts on Facebook in hopes of letting the public know that they believe the justice system has failed Jimmy. The family is still calling for witnesses to come forward and contact them.

Jimmy’s mother, Seppie, tells NewsWatch12 that her son was a drug user and has committed crimes, but did not deserve to be killed last night. Jimmy’s family readily admits that he had troubles with the law. His mother says her son’s compulsive behavior and mental disabilities landed him in jail several times.

Georgeson was in juvenile detention as a teenager and was currently wanted for attacking a deputy marshal in 2009, a charge the family says is overblown.

They do know Jimmy had a drug problem, saying he was mainly using pot, but had used more serious drugs, even over-dosing three times. His continual drug use and the crimes he committed impacted the family.

Ultimately, however, Jimmy’s family says they’ll remember him as the boy they took vacations with, who had a gift with words, and the son and brother who gave the best hugs.

Fatal showdown – Marshals shoot and kill wanted Medford man in parking lot

From the Medford Tribune, January 6, 2012

U.S. Marshals said they shot a 20-year-old Medford man dead in an Albertsons parking lot Thursday night because he attempted to ram them with his car while trying to escape arrest.

James Harrison Georgeson Jr. was wanted by the Marshals office for a probation violation stemming from an assault on a federal officer in 2009.

“The U.S. Marshals were attempting to arrest this subject when the shots were fired,” Medford police Chief Tim George said. (Note: George’s full name was inadvertently omitted from this article, but this version has been corrected.)

George said no local agencies were on scene when the shooting occurred.

The U.S. Marshals agency is tasked with tracking down and arresting those with federal warrants.

The attempted arrest occurred in the busy shopping center parking lot on West Main Street at 5:22 p.m.

“While attempting to apprehend him, (Georgeson) used his vehicle as a deadly weapon,” U.S. Marshals spokesman Supervisory Deputy Eric Wahlstrom said in a news release.

It was unclear exactly what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting. Several cars, including at least one unmarked police car, were damaged.

“We will be taking the lead in this investigation,” George said. “We have a lot of witnesses corralled and will be speaking with them about what they saw.”

George could not say how many times Georgeson was shot or how many Marshals fired their weapons Thursday night.

He did say that two men were with Georgeson when he was killed.

They were detained and were being questioned by officers as detectives from multiple Jackson County agencies continued to conduct the investigation.

“We are interested in what these two subjects have to say,” George said.

According to recent Jackson County Circuit Court records, Georgeson listed his home address in the 1400 block of E. Main St. in Medford.

Ricky Castaneda, 23, was leaving Albertsons after buying medicine when the gunfire erupted.

“I saw the police try to pin him in with their cars and he tried to escape in his car,” Castaneda said. “He hit one of their cars and they just jumped out and shot that kid.”

Castaneda said he was outraged by the violence and questions whether it was warranted.

“There were a lot of people around in this parking lot,” he said. “This kid they killed better be wanted for murder, because what happened was crazy. That kid is dead, killed right in front of me.”

The parking lot turned into chaos following the shooting. At least four cars were crashed during the arrest.

Georgeson’s car appeared to have struck or been struck by an unmarked Marshal’s sports utility vehicle. Another SUV looked to have crashed into another car near where Georgeson was shot.

Georgeson’s body remained splayed beside his car as police investigators filtered into the area. Bullets shattered his driver’s side window and his car’s tires were flattened.

The gruesome scene confronted Albertsons shoppers entering and exiting the store.

Parents covered their childrens’ eyes and told them not to look in the direction of the body as they left the store.

A large swath of the parking lot was roped off by police tape. Onlookers began to crowd the tape and took cell phone pictures and video of Georgeson’s body.

Investigators fetched a line of grocery carts and covered them with a tarp to block the body from sight.

Officers were quick to grab a large group of witnesses in the parking lot minutes after the shooting. They collected the witnesses and steered them into a nearby automotive business, where they were questioned and released throughout the night.

George said the investigation will be handled by the county’s major crimes unit, a team of detectives from agencies across the Rogue Valley.

“It is early in this thing,” George said. “We have a lot of things to figure out.”

Jackson County Deputy District Attorney David Hoppe said the case will be turned over to a grand jury following the investigation.

“We have one young man who is dead and this case will be turned over to a grand jury on a timely basis,” Hoppe said.

Hoppe was on the scene Thursday night, speaking to investigators as they combed through evidence.

A grand jury would determine whether the shooting was justified.

Hoppe said he spoke with U.S. Marshals officials on Thursday night.

“They said they would cooperate with this investigation,” Hoppe said.

Man who was shot had troubled past, court records and family say

Shooting of 20-year-old probation violator by U.S. marshals raises questions about use of deadly force
From the Medford Tribune, January 6, 2012

The 20-year-old fugitive gunned down Thursday by U.S. Marshals outside of a west Medford grocery store was a career criminal with drug and mental-health problems and a history of assaulting police officers, records show

But family members say that did not mean a likely unarmed James “Jimmy” Georgeson deserved to be shot dead after he allegedly attempted to crash his vehicle into the car of agents trying to arrest him for violating his federal probation for assaulting a U.S. Marshal in 2009.

“Jimmy was no angel by any means, and he was a runner,” stepfather James Harrison, of Medford, said this morning. “But he’s not your Top 10 America’s Most Wanted, just a dumb kid who made bad choices under the influence.

“He didn’t deserve what happened,” Harrison said. “He didn’t deserve to be shot. It could have been handled in a completely different way.”

On the morning after the 5:22 p.m. shooting outside of the front door of the Albertsons store on West Main Street, the community continued to grasp for details over why one or more Marshals opened fire during their arrest attempt in the bustling retail complex.

A U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Thursday said that Georgeson used his Dodge Durango as “a deadly weapon” just prior to the shooting, but neither the service nor Medford police have identified the marshals involved nor said how many shots were fired.

The agents were trying to arrest Georgeson for violating the conditions of his federal probation — walking away from his latest drug treatment attempt, Harrison said.

Harrison said he last saw Georgeson on Tuesday and that “he looked really bad and was tired of not making right decisions.

“I bugged him to turn himself in, and he was ready to do that,” Harrison says. “It just happened too late.”

Harrison says Georgeson never carried weapons and he is convinced Georgeson was unarmed at the time of the shooting, though police have yet to discuss whether he was armed.

Federal court records filed in Georgeson’s 2010 conviction for assaulting a U.S. Marshal detail a lengthy criminal, drug and mental-health history for Georgeson.

At the time, his juvenile and adult crime record included convictions for theft, assault, burglary, possession of the drug Ecstasy and assaulting a police officer — enough at age 18 to end up just shy of placing in the highest criminal-history category during his federal sentencing.

His own attorney at the time filed court papers saying Georgeson was a ward of the court at age 12, has been treated for mental-health conditions since that age and was diagnosed as having various drug dependencies and anti-social personality traits.

Georgeson found his way into the federal penal system quite literally by mistake.

He was hiding in a bathroom of a Talent house on June 25, 2009, when Marshals showed up in search of a fugitive, court records state. The house’s occupant told Marshals that the unidentified fugitive was not present, but acknowledged that someone was hiding in the bathroom, records show.

The Marshals didn’t know that the man in the bathroom was Georgeson, high on Ecstasy and wanted on a local warrant for probation violation, but not the target of the Marshals search, records show.

After Marshals knocked on the bathroom door and identified themselves, Georgeson fled through the bathroom window and agents gave chase into a nearby apartment complex, records show.

Outside of an apartment there, Marshals again identified themselves and said they had a warrant, records show. After agents forced their way into an apartment, Georgeson lunged at an agent from behind in an attempt to tackle him, according to a federal sentencing memorandum.

The Marshal fought with Georgeson, “tasing” him three times before he was subdued, the sentencing memorandum states.

Georgeson received a 2-year federal prison sentence in April 2010, but was back in Jackson County on federal probation during 2011, records show. He was convicted on Oct. 10, 2011, for violating the condition of his parole that he remain sober and drug-free, but was not jailed at the time, records show.

Police chief: Investigation will be time consuming

Police are going to be at the West Medford Albertson’s for an extended period of time.

Police Chief Tim George says seven agencies are involved in the investigation. Medford is the agency of primary jurisdiction and is the case agent.

The FBI is involved.

“It is a very time consuming and detailed investigation and it is going to last for a substantial time,” George said.

The plan is to turn it over to the District Attorney’s office.

Assistant DA David Hoppe said it is standard process for the office to take officer-related shootings to the grand jury.

“We will treat this like any other shooting,” he said.

The DA’s office and investigators have spoken to the U.S. Marshals and have been told they will cooperate.

The shooting happened around 5:22 p.m. at the Albertson’s on West Main. It happened when U.S. Marshals attempted to apprehend James Harrison Georgeson, Jr., 20, of Medford.

A spokesman from the U.S. Marshals Service told The Associated Press the man was shot by an agent when the man attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon.

Georgeson died at the scene.

The 20-year-old Medford man was wanted on a federal probation violation from Dec. 21, 2011.

The names of the marshals involved have not been released.

‘I don’t have a son anymore’

Medford mother of man killed in confrontation with U.S. marshals joins Vogel Plaza vigil
From the Medford Tribune, January 8, 2012

The mother of a 20-year-old Medford man shot to death by U.S. marshals Thursday during a confrontation in the parking lot of a grocery store recalled his “beautiful spirit” during a protest vigil Saturday night.

Seppie Greico sat in a lawn chair with a blanket wrapped around her as a group of about 20 people gathered at Vogel Plaza in Medford to protest the shooting of James “Jimmy” Georgeson.

Friends and family members of Georgeson held signs that read “Murder is Murder” and “Justice for Jimmy” on the corner of East Main Street and North Central Avenue.

“My son had a beautiful spirit,” said Greico, 46, who lives in Medford. “There is so much love pouring out for him it is unbelievable.”

Georgeson’s mother said she found out about her son’s death from a neighbor who described the scene, including the vehicle he used to strike the vehicle driven by the marshals.

“My next-door neighbor happened to be driving by Albertsons and saw the Durango and thought it might have been his dad,” said Greico. “They knew someone had been shot and I knew — I just knew.”

Greico said some comments from the public since Georgeson’s death have been insulting.

“I’ve seen (Internet forum) posts about me, ‘Oh he’s a thug he must have a thug parent,'” said Greico. “You don’t live with me, you don’t know my son. He was wired wrong.”

The 20-year-old was sent to Astoria to serve time at the Oregon Youth Authority correctional facility when he was 15, for a carving on a bench and stealing a lighter from Ray’s Food Place, according to Greico.

“They ruined him,” said Greico. “This is not just about my son, this is about government and justice.”

The U.S. marshals who shot Georgeson had visited Greico only four hours before the shooting, she said, reassuring her that they wanted nothing bad to happen to her son.

“They said if my son called me to give him a Xanax and to call them and they would come pick him up,” Greico said.

“They said they thought he was a gentlemen, that they had worked with him many times, they cared about him and wanted nothing bad to happen. Four hours later, the same one blew my son away.”

Greico said that her son wanted to turn himself in but was “scared to death.” She last saw her son just weeks ago, after he had left a drug rehabilitation facility, for a girl, she said.

“I don’t have a son anymore. What can I do? Support these kids in what they are doing and what they believe in,” Greico said. “They loved him enough to stand out here, so I better be here too.”

Memorial dwindling for Georgeson

From KTVL.com, January 8, 2012

Sunday marks just three days since the officer involved shooting that left a young man dead. The memorial at the scene where it all happened is already dwindling.

As of Sunday evening, all of the flowers and posters were gone and only a few candles were left.

The memorial is for 20-year-old Jimmy Georgeson.

He was shot and killed by a US Marshal on Thursday in the parking lot just in front of Albertsons.

The Medford Police Department is continuing to talk with witnesses and gather surveillance video from nearby businesses.

Officer Involved Shooting Investigation

From KDRV.com, January 9, 2012

The family of the young man shot by United States Fire Marshals, have enlisted the help of an attorney to investigate the death that they are calling a murder.

Medford police said U.S. marshals were trying to arrest 20 year old Jimmy Georgeson on a federal probation violation warrant.

A spokesman for the U.S. marshals said during the arrest, Georgeson tried to use his car as a deadly weapon, but the marshal’s office could not elaborate on that.

The family said they have not received any answers to their many questions they’ve drawn up, so they took matters into their own hands.

“Have our memorial and put him to rest and put that part behind us. Then go on and get the answers we want,” said Georgeson’s step father, James Harrison.

The family said they hope to have Georgeson’s body back in the next two days and are in the process of planning a memorial.