Family of slain Irishman questions grand jury decision
Posted by Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian July 25, 2008 10:58AM
Categories: Editors' Picks, Top Stories
The sister of Andrew "A.J." Hanlon, the 20-year-old Irish national shot and killed by a Silverton Police officer late last month, said she would work to find out why confrontations between police and mentally disturbed people in Oregon and the U.S. often end in violence.

At a news conference this morning, Melanie Heise, her husband, Nathan Heise, and Hanlon's aunt, Mel Castelo talked about the decision last night by a Marion County grand jury not to indict Officer Tony Gonzalez in his death.

"I acknowledge that my brother was mentally disturbed, but what does not make sense for me is that in Oregon and elsewhere, confrontations end with the mentally ill person dead," Heise said. "In Andrew's name, I will commit myself to solving this problem."

Nathan Heise questioned why Gonzalez, "a 240-pound expert martial arts expert and ex-cage fighter, not feel that he could disable and arrest a 120-pound kid... why was the Taser not drawn instead of a service weapon when he was down on the ground?"

The attorney for the family, Steve Crew, said Hanlon did not have drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death. Despite an autopsy here, and one in Ireland before his cremation, Crew said it was still unknown which of five bullets that hit Hanlon caused the fatal wound.

Crew said although the Marion County District Attorney's Office has released some documents related to the shooting, they are still waiting for copies of the 9-1-1 tape as well as additional details of the investigation.

The shooting occurred after Gonzalez, 35, responded to a burglary report.

The district attorney's office gave this account of the incident:
The trouble started about 11:20 p.m. on June 30, when Hanlon, whom pal Ariel Burton described as "gentle, five-foot six-inch, skinny as a rail," knocked on the door of a blue farmhouse at the end of Digerness Boulevard, a private Silverton road with four homes.

At first, Shannon Kelley, reading in an upstairs bedroom, thought her husband, Josiah, had forgotten his key.

But when she reached the door, the knocking had become aggressive pounding.
When she turned on the porch light, she saw an unfamiliar man peering into the windows, then beating on the door again.

Frightened, she ordered him to leave, but he refused, kicking and leaping at the door. Afterward, police found skin and blood on the door's white surface. She said Hanlon yelled that he was the "angel of death" and howled at the moon.

In her call to 9-1-1, she was obviously scared, and Hanlon could be heard screaming and pounding.

Hanlon fled just ahead of Silverton police, dashing down the hill to a home at the corner of Oak and Mill streets. That's where Gonzalez spotted him in the trees.

"Upon seeing Andrew Hanlon, Tony Gonzalez did not draw his service weapon, rather he ordered him to come down and to show him his hands," a district attorney's release stated.
Hanlon did come down but dodged the officer, hiding behind cars in a dimly lit driveway.

Gonzalez heard a sound he thought was glass breaking. Investigators later determined it was Hanlon kicking or bumping a recycling bin.

Thinking Hanlon might now be armed with a broken bottle, Gonzalez drew his gun. Unable to see the young man's right side, Gonzalez ordered him to show both hands.

"Get down!" "Freeze!" "Don't move!" "Get down!" Gonzalez reportedly yelled. For a moment it appeared that Hanlon would comply; he said, "Okay," and started to reach toward the ground.
But an eyewitness, Silverton resident Jeff DeSantis, recounted that Hanlon screamed, swung his arms and kicked as he leapt toward the uniformed officer.

Gonzalez backed across Oak, about 25 feet, but Hanlon followed, staying within five feet. Even as the officer fired seven times, Hanlon kept coming, finally dropping to the pavement with five wounds.

The grand jury investigating the case heard 13 witnesses -- four police and nine civilians, said Matthew D. Kemmy and Douglas C. Hanson, deputy district attorneys. Gonzalez did not testify in person, but a videotape of his interview with detectives was shown.

Hanlon's sister, his roommate and his best friend also testified, primarily about him as a person.
Grand jurors also heard the original 9-1-1 call and police dispatch recordings before and after the shooting.

They reviewed the autopsy report from the State Medical Examiner's Office, toxicology reports on Hanlon and Gonzalez, and health history documents of Hanlon, whose family has said he had a history of mental problems.

-- Stuart Tomlinson; stuarttomlinson@news.oregonian.com




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