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Cops cleared in shooting photo by Bob Pennell Medford Police Chief Eric Mellgren, Central Point Police Chief Michael Sweeny and Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings present the grand jury findings in the Cole Smith shooting Friday in the Jackson County Justice Building. Despite ruling in Smith case, police vow to review policies By Jessica Smith of the Mail Tribune The Jackson County grand jury on Friday exonerated three officers who used deadly force to stop a mentally ill man authorities said threatened to shoot police. After a nine-hour hearing, the grand jury deliberated just a few minutes before finding that officers who shot and killed 25-year-old Cole Younger Smith were justified in their actions. Despite the decision, police agencies Friday pledged to work to prevent the tragedy from repeating. "Even though the grand jury has reached its decision, it does not mean that our work is done, nor does it mean we are going to turn our backs on what happened," said Lt. Gregg Hastings, an Oregon State Police spokesman. Smith was shot Dec. 28 outside the OSP headquarters in Central Point, where he held police at bay for 90 minutes, telling officers he had a 9mm handgun and that he would shoot them. Smith's wife, Jennifer, reached by telephone late Friday night in California, said she would comment on the ruling at a later date. Hastings and Medford Police Chief Eric Mellgren said their agencies plan to begin an immediate administrative review of their policies to develop better strategies for such situations. "Our goal is to improve upon what we do, and our desire is to prevent this type of thing from happening again," Hastings said. The grand jury listened to testimony from 27 witnesses Friday about the shooting, including the officers who opened fire on Smith, other officers on the scene and several witnesses. District Attorney Mark Huddleston said he also asked Jennifer Smith to testify. She declined. The following scenario emerged from police reports and witness accounts: Smith apparently drove to the OSP headquarters Dec. 28 after leaving his family in Philomath, a town west of Corvallis, earlier that day. He parked outside the locked building about 7 p.m., picked up a phone in an after-hours call box and told a dispatcher he was going to kill someone. Soon after, OSP troopers found Smith sitting in his pickup. He told them he had a gun. Police witnesses told the grand jury that negotiations started out promising but deteriorated. Four negotiators were used during the incident but none could talk Smith out of his pickup. OSP Lt. Terry Simons, the incident commander, authorized the use of a "flash-bang," a concussion grenade, that was meant to stun Smith so officers could remove him from his truck. Huddleston said no single event prompted the use of the flash-bang, but that Smith's repeated threats to officers and the fact that he kept rolling his pickup back and forth led officers to employ the device. "They felt the flash-bang might end the situation," Huddleston said. The flash-bang deployed in the bed of the truck, as intended. But when officers rushed the cab, Smith appeared to grab for something and the police backed away. That's when Smith's truck lurched, hitting two squad cars. Smith apparently then stepped from his vehicle and approached officers with a dark object in hand. When one officer dropped to the ground for safety, five officers opened fire with bullets and nonlethal bean bags. Some have speculated that Smith was attempting to commit "suicide by police officer." Smith had a history of depression, and family members said he had attempted suicide four times in the past two years. Jennifer Smith said she told OSP dispatchers not to surround her husband, since it could trigger symptoms of of his post traumatic stress disorder. Although at least 20 officers from Medford, Central Point and the Jackson County Sheriff's Department arrived on scene sporadically, Huddleston said even early negotiations between Smith and the two OSP troopers failed. "Based on the totality of the circumstances, it's clear to me he (Smith) had made up his mind that he wanted to commit suicide. I don't know if anything would have worked," Huddleston said. A mental health worker was asked to respond to the scene, but the worker told police it would be half an hour before he could respond. By then, Smith was dead. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA