Slain Teen Was Trying to Give up, Witness Says

Register-Guard
By Rebecca Noland
June 29, 2005


Springfield --" a man who says he saw a Springfield police officer shoot an unarmed 15-year-old boy early Sunday morning said it looked as if the teen was trying to surrender when the fatal shot was fired. His statement contradicts the official version of what transpired."
"Dustin Allen Reinke, 26, of Springfield [who police had arrested late Saturday night at a party in Springfield on a warrant for second-degree assault] was in the back seat of a police car parked about 50 feet from the spot where Jason Michael Porter was killed by a Springfield police officer early Sunday morning.

"Reinke, who was under arrest at the time, said that Porter had opened the driver's side door and swung his feet out of the pickup, when the officer ran up and shot the boy in the head, killing him,according to an attorney who spoke with Reinke on Tuesday."
"in a news conference Monday, Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad said the driver's side door was closed and the window rolled up with the officer approached the stolen Dodge pickup truck.the officer looked in the window and saw what he thought was a gun in Porter's hand, Harcleroad said. He fired once through the window glass, and the bullet hit the boy in the jaw, Harcleroad said. Porter died at the scene. He had no gun."

" The other officer was following a stolen silver Dodge pickup whose driver had refused to pull over. The pickup did not accelerate, but turned into a Weyerhaeuser Co. parking lot and circled around, police said. It stopped on some elevated railroad tracks that run through the property. The pursuing officer stopped nearby and got out of his car.

The car Reinke was in stopped near the entrance of the parking lot. Wheatley said Reinke told him he had a clear view of the scene. Reinke said Jason Porter opened the driver's side door, his feet came out and the officer came up and shot him, Wheatley said."

"Jason Porter's mother, Kelly Porter, said Tuesday that her son had arrived at her home with the stolen pickup the night he was shot. She said he told her that he and a buddy bought it together. She said she knew her son was driving without a license."

I agree it is tragic when a 15-year-old loses his life.
in a related story, the parents of the 15 year old are thinking about suing the Springfield Police Department.

In a situation, when the police are following and trying to pull over a reported stolen vehicle, tensions are high.
the officer does not know that it is just a kid out for joy ride, or what to expect when he stops the vehicle.

when the driver, refused to pull over and then later pulled into a parking lot and "circled around" to the police officers point of view, that was a sign of an aggressive act. that when the officer went to the car and the boys suddenly raised his hand, the officer fired.

again, it is very sad that what could easily be thought of as a child's prank, ended in a fatality, however, I believe that the Springfield police acted accordingly to this situation the best that they could considering the circumstances.