Portland State University Campus Police Shoot and Kill Concealed Carrier
Sad news from the campus of Portland State University today as reports have now been confirmed that a 45-year-old licensed concealed carrier was killed by the very police he was trying to assist.
The incident which saw the death of 45-year-old Jason Washington occurred on Friday, June 29th at around 1:30 in the morning.
Washington was outside of Portland State University’s local campus bar “The Cheerful Tortoise” when he and many other witnesses saw a huge fight brewing outside of the establishment. As things started to get more and more hairy, witnesses state that Washington walked towards the posturing participants of the scuffle in an attempt to curb the situation.
It should also be noted that according to one witness, Keyaira Smith, Portland State Campus Police were already overseeing the conflict, but had not stepped in at this point.
As Washington began to do what the police wouldn’t and intervene to stop the fight, the registered concealed carrier’s handgun that was holstered to his hip fell out of its holster and dropped to the ground.
What followed was recorded on a cell phone carried by one of the other bystanders surrounding the fight. It showed Jason Washington reaching down to pick up the firearm that fell and campus police proceeding to fire at Washington killing him then and there.
Portland police showed up on the scene shortly after this escalation and at the time of this writing have announced there will be a full investigation into whether or not the Portland State Campus Security were within their rights to use deadly force.
Still, this does not sit well with Washington’s family or students of Portland State who gathered together at a rally on Sunday night protesting what was done to Washington.
What do you think of this story? Again we have seen another incident in which a gun falling out of a holster has caused ripples far beyond a simple dropping of a gun. Take for example the incident with a dancing FBI agent in Denver a few weeks ago and now this incident in Portland. Do you think that better holsters are the answer or is there something more to this story? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
