Man who was struck by Redmond police car has died

A 63-year-old Redmond man who was struck by a Redmond police car last Thursday after reportedly pointing a handgun at passing cars has died at St. Charles Bend, authorities confirmed Sunday.

MIchael W. Gaskill, who died Saturday, had been flown by AirLink helicopter from St. Charles Redmond to the Bend hospital shortly after Thursday afternoon’s incident, in which he was critically injured.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Nathan Garibay said the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office had been notified of Gaskill’s death. He added that the medical examiner will work with the Tri-County Major Incident Team on the continuing investigation. No other new information was released Sunday.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is overseeing the investigation. Sheriff’s Sgt. Don Manning said two Redmond officers involved in the incident were placed on paid administrative leave, which he said is “standard operating procedure for these type of investigations.”

“This investigation is still ongoing,” Manning added. No new information was released about the sequence of events or whether Gaskill was struck intentionally by the driver of the patrol car.

District Attorney John Hummel told NewsChannel 21 Friday, ” I will work with law enforcement to determine what happened. I need to know whether that gentleman with a gun whether he committed a crime and whether the officer acted appropriately in striking the gentleman with his car so that’s what I’m working on now.”

Police responded shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday to the area of Northwest Canal Boulevard near St. Charles Redmond on reports of an armed subject, sheriff’s deputies said.

Several callers reported to 911 that the man was armed with a handgun and was pointing it at passing motorists.

Officers made contact with Gaskill, who still was in possession of an an apparent firearm, deputies said.

“Some time after the initial contact,” Gaskilll was struck by a Redmond Police Department patrol car and seriously injured, deputies said, adding that no bystanders or others were hurt.

The Tri-County Major Incident Team was called in to investigate the incident, with the sheriff’s office as the lead agency.

Deputies asked anyone witnesses to the incident to contact the sheriff’s office through the dispatch non-emergency number, 541-693-6911.

The hospital was placed on lockdown for about 15 minutes following the incident, St. Charles spokeswoman Lisa Goodman said.

Goodman said earlier that someone with a gun had showed up at the hospital’s Emergency Department, but it turned out he was outside, near the hospital..

Crime scene tape and police barricades were quickly put up at Canal Boulevard and Larch Avenue, where numerous police vehicles converged.

Several evidence labels were on the ground near a Redmond police car, and a drone was being used for aerial evidence gathering, according to Sheriff Shane Nelson.

According to unconfirmed police scanner reports, citizens had called dispatchers to report a man was riding an adult trike on Canal Boulevard and pointing an “old West-style handgun” at passers-by.

Police arrived, and at some point, when he reportedly pointed the gun at them, an officer struck and injured the man with his patrol car, the unconfirmed reports indicated.