A Multnomah County grand jury has declined to bring charges against the Portland police officer who shot and killed Brandon Keck, 30, during what police say was a carjacking on Interstate 5 in North Portland.
The grand jury’s “not true bill” means they believed the shooting was not criminal under Oregon law.
Officer John Hughes, a 17-year employee of the Portland Police Bureau, shot and killed Keck on Dec. 6 after an alleged string of robberies that culminated with Keck driving a stolen vehicle onto the wrong side of the freeway. Hughes fired 10 rounds and killed Keck after he stole another car during a pursuit, according to bystander footage of the shooting.
Investigations continue on northbound Interstate 5 in North Portland, where police shot and killed one person during an alleged carjacking Monday morning, Dec. 6, 2021. Officials say that the alleged carjacker was being pursued driving the wrong way on the interstate, crashed, and attempted to carjack another vehicle, firing a shot and injuring one woman.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Police said Keck had committed several carjackings and a home invasion in the 40 minutes leading up to the incident. Immediately following the shooting, police also said Keck had shot and injured a woman, but later reversed course and said they were trying to determine how she had been injured. The bureau still has not confirmed the cause of the injury.
Hughes was put on paid administrative leave following the shooting and has since returned to work and is assigned to Central Precinct. The Portland Police Bureau initiated an internal investigation to determine if Hughes or any other officers violated bureau directives during the incident. Bureau directives prohibit officers from firing at moving vehicles “unless an immediate risk of death or serious physical injury to the member or others exists.” A bureau spokesperson could not immediately confirm the status of that investigation.
Portland police shot eight people in 2021, killing four. It was the most police shootings in Portland since 2005 when police shot and killed four people, injured two, and shot at but missed another two people.
Portland police have killed one person in 2022, Joel Arevalo. Officers killed Arevalo on Feb. 19 after he allegedly shot at a friend and refused to take his hands from his pockets during contact with police, according to PPB.