A Multnomah County grand jury last week cleared the Portland police officer who shot and killed Aaron Stanton, 40, on July 27.
Officer Joshua Dyk was among several officers who responded to a call in East Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood about a man firing a gun in his front yard. Dyk, who is a member of the Focused Intervention Team dedicated to addressing gun violence, shot and killed Stanton. He is one of at least eight members of the Focused Intervention Team who have shot at people this year.
Related: Portland police end practice of withholding names of officers who use deadly force
A statement from Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said that “upon the conclusion of the presentation of evidence” the grand jury “found the use of force by Portland Police Officer Joshua Dyk ... was not criminal under Oregon law.”
The circumstances leading up to Stanton firing what neighbors said were several different firearms into the air remain uncertain. A neighbor suspects Stanton may have suffered from addiction or mental health issues.
The police bureau initially withheld Dyk’s name, citing unspecified security concerns about officers being doxxed. After withholding Dyk’s name in July, the bureau went on to withhold the names of eight officers who participated in four different shootings. Only one of the four was fatal.
The bureau ended that practice and on Dec. 9 named the eight officers, saying the FBI had concluded an investigation into the threats. The bureau provided no further details on the threats or the investigation. It did announce a new policy that names will be released within 15 days after a deadly force incident, absent a credible threat. The previous policy required names to be released within 24 hours.
Portland police officers have shot at people nine times so far in 2022, killing four. Last year, they shot at eight people and killed four.
