The Oregon police shooting of refuge occupier was regarded legally justified and necessary, according to a county prosecutor who ruled on the case. The prosecutor believed that the Oregon state trooper, who fatally shot Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum had no responsibility over the death of the refuge occupier.
Finicum was shot by a police three times at his back. He died on the spot on Jan. 26. Finicum's relatives claimed that the refuge occupier was unarmed. However, Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson said that they found a loaded 9mm handgun on Finicum's pocket after the Oregon police shooting incident. According to Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris, Finicum was shot eight times. The Oregon State Police officers allegedly fired six times while FBI agents shot the refuge occupier two times, Yahoo reports.
"All six shots fired by the Oregon State Police, the three into the truck and the three that struck Mr. Finicum, are justified," said Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris in a prepared statement. He noted that the shots were "in fact, necessary."
In the midst of the Oregon police shooting investigation, the US Department of Justice investigators found that the FBI agent allegedly lied or has failed to report the shots, according to RT. Apart from the FBI agent, four members of the Hostage Rescue Team and an FBI unit were also being examined for their involvement in the case. Investigators were taking the probability that the involved cooperated to cover up the shooting.
"Of particular concern to all of us is that the FBI [hostage rescue team] operators did not disclose their shots to our investigators, nor did they disclose specific actions they took after the shooting," Deschutes County Sheriff L. Shane Nelson said in a televised news conference Tuesday, without specifying to which actions he was referring, LA Times reported.
At present, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the inspector general of the United States Department of Justice are still investigating on the Oregon police shooting case. Finicum's death has triggered demonstrations across the nation. The FBI and the Oregon State Police are both planning to show the pertinent photographs, autopsy reports, police reports, interview transcripts, and new video that would make the public weigh the results of the investigations.
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