OSP identifies 2 Bend police officers in deadly shooting

Oregon State Police on Tuesday night identified the two Bend police officers involved in a shooting that left a motorist dead during a downtown Bend traffic stop on the night of Dec. 23.

OSP Captain Bill Fugate said they are officers Scott Schaier and Marc Tisher.

Earlier, as the investigation began, officials said one or both officers had fired their weapons, fatally shooting Michael Tyler Jacques, 31, of Bend, after a Taser deployment failed to subdue the uncooperative motive but that was revised Tuesday night.

“During this incident, one or both of the officers deployed a Taser and Officer Schaier fired his handgun,” Fugate said/

Jacques’ minivan had been stopped on Franklin Avenue near Bond Street for suspected drunk driving after citizen reports of the vehicle’s erratic and reckless driving minutes earlier in northeast Bend.

Bend Police Lieutenant Clint Burleigh said Wednesday that Schaier was hired by Bend police in November 2013. Schaier also worked for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department from June 2009 until he was hired in Bend, Burleigh said.

Tisher was hired as a community service officer in December 2004, serving in that role for more than 2 1/2 years until he was promoted to police officer in August 2007.

Under Oregon Senate Bill 111, which covers investigations into police use of deadly force, a multi-agency investigation is continuing, under review by the Oregon Department of Justice.

Last week, after the Jacques family retained attorneys and issued a statement sharply critical of the initial investigation and public comments, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel asked the Oregon DOJ to take over the “lead prosecutorial role” in the incident, due to a conflict of interest.

Attorney Jennifer Coughlin, one of the family’s lawyers, also represents Hummel in civil litigation over a crash in northwest Bend last summer that left Hummel seriously injured.

Fugate said no more information will be released until a prosecuting attorney with the Oregon DOJ has reviewed the results of the investigation, which he said is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.