Document text
Shooting was `suicide by police,' DA says Victim's wife had thrown him out before standoff CENTRAL POINT -- Authorities said a man who went down in a hail of gunfire after a 90-minute standoff outside the Oregon State Police district headquarters Tuesday night was beset by personal problems and apparently wanted to die. Smith Police said they don't know why Smith decided to provoke a confrontation in the OSP parking lot. Cole Younger Smith, 25, was killed almost instantly after he rammed his truck into two patrol units and then on foot charged officers, who saw an object in his hand and feared he had shot an officer who had tripped and fallen, Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston said at a press conference Wednesday. The object turned out to be a chrome-handled safety razor in a black case. Smith did not have a gun, Huddleston said. "It does appear to me that this was a suicide-by-police-officer," Huddleston said. "That is the term we use." Smith was from Philomath, a small town just west of Corvallis. Police there reported that Smith had been thrown out by his wife earlier Tuesday, and he apparently stopped in Central Point on his way to Grass Valley, Calif., where he lived until three months ago and still has relatives. Jennifer Smith told police that her husband, who stood 6-foot-8 and weighed 280 pounds, took medication for depression and had tried to commit suicide at least four times in the past. He had a conviction for domestic abuse in California, where he was reportedly arrested three times this year. The couple had two children, ages 1 and 3. Police said they remain unsure why Smith decided to provoke a confrontation in the OSP parking lot. Shortly after 7 p.m., he phoned a dispatcher from an after-hours call box outside the station's locked front door and demanded to talk to an officer. "I'm getting back in my truck now, 'cause I'm going to kill somebody," he said in a choked voice. Authorities released a copy of the tape Wednesday during the press conference. Three troopers went outside and found Smith sitting inside his truck, sobbing and beating his hands on his forehead, Huddleston said. Officers from Medford and Central Point, as well as Jackson County sheriff's deputies, soon arrived at the scene and closed off Highway 99. Smith told hostage negotiators that he had a 9mm pistol and wanted to kill police, although at times he asked which ones had children because he didn't want to hurt them, Huddleston said. Meanwhile, the man kept driving his Ford Ranger pickup back and forth in the parking lot, and eventually popped all four tires on spike strips laid down by police. Finally, police decided to launch a "flash bang" concussion grenade at Smith's truck to disable him, but the device missed the cab and exploded harmlessly in the bed, Huddleston said. Video footage taken by KDRV Channel 12 showed that Smith then hit the gas as officers rushed the truck, ramming two squad cars. Huddleston said officers failed to break Smith's grip on the steering wheel and then retreated when he reached down as though he was going for a gun. An eyewitness, who spoke to the Mail Tribune on condition that his name not be used, said Smith jumped from his truck and charged the officers "like a football player running downfield on a kickoff." "My initial response was, geez, he's gonna get shot now, because he was running at them," the witness added. "He didn't get out of his car and put his hands up. He got out and just charged right at them." Two officers, one from Medford and one from Central Point, fired beanbags in an attempt to disable Smith. At almost the same time, three other officers fired a total of 22 shots at Smith, who was hit more than a dozen times in the neck, chest, stomach and arm. Huddleston said the three Medford officers who fired bullets at Smith -- Sgt. Jerry Burchfiel and officer Cory Schwab, who used .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistols, and officer Steven Furst, armed with a 9mm rifle -- were placed on paid administrative leave pending a special investigation. The case will be presented to a grand jury in two or three weeks. State police Lt. Dan Durbin, who briefed Huddleston before the press conference, said he is convinced Smith intentionally behaved in a way that left officers no choice but to open fire. "I can tell you when police are prepared to use less than lethal force ... and the situation changes, you're gonna use whatever you have," Durbin said, referring to the contradictory use of beanbags and bullets. "When this thing happened, it exploded. It happened all at once." Durbin said so-called "suicide by cop" is a disturbing trend in the United States that has lasting repercussions on the lives of officers. "Police officers are not born killers," he said. "A shooting like this, it changes them forever." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA