Investigators said Tuesday that LaVoy Finicum’s shooting death by Oregon State Police officers was justified, though FBI agents are under investigation for an apparent cover-up.
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Oregon State Troopers fired the rounds that killed Finicum on January 26, authorities said.
Finicum was the lone armed occupier of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to die at law enforcement’s hands in the 41-day standoff.
“One, and possibly two, additional shots were fired by law enforcement as Mr. Finicum was exiting the vehicle after hitting the snow bank”, the head of the FBI’s office in Portland, Special Agent in Charge Gregory Bretzing, said at a news conference today.
Despite Finicum defying those orders and reaching toward the pocket containing the gun, two nearby state police officers did not immediately open fire, and a third officer attempted to move in with a Taser, Nelson said.
Finicum’s widow, Jeanette Finicum, on Tuesday rejected authorities’ conclusion that her husband’s shooting was justified and said she is talking with attorneys about taking her family’s fight to court.
He said the investigation also found that the same FBI agent fired his weapon twice, not hitting anything the second time, even though he twice denied discharging his weapon. The third time, the troopers fired three shots.
Results of a multi-agency investigation into the deadly officer-involved shooting that marked the beginning of the end of the occupation at the rural OR refuge were released Tuesday.
For weeks, authorities positioned themselves outside a Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building near Burns – not charging in to get the occupiers but not giving them a free pass to stay or easily leave either.
With his window rolled down, Finicum yelled that he and the others were on the way to a meeting with the sheriff of Grant County.
The newly released details from the local investigators revealed two state policemen shot Finicum three times in the back, piercing him once in the heart.
Finicum then asks his passengers if they want to get out of his truck, but they don’t seem to understand why. “We’re going to see the sheriff”, Finicum said.
At another point he is heard to say: “If you want a bloodbath, it’s on your hands”.
After police and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents tried to pull over two vehicles that had left the refuge, Finicum sped off in one of them.
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After Finicum’s death and the arrests during the traffic stop, most occupiers cleared out of the wildlife preserve.
