Bodycam video released of fatal PSU shooting
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Body camera video from two Portland State University campus police officers shows they ordered a legally armed black man to drop a gun before opening fire, killing him.
PSU released the video Friday after Officers James Dewey and Shawn McKenzie were cleared by a grand jury in the June 29 death of 45-year-old Jason Erik Washington.
The footage shows a witness telling Dewey that Washington has a gun when the officers arrive at the scene of a fight outside a downtown bar near the university’s campus.
McKenzie and Dewey both order Washington to drop a gun before they open fire.
A police report quotes witnesses saying Washington was trying to restrain his friend and may have pointed a gun in the air before police arrived.
Washington was legally permitted to carry a concealed weapon.