Marva Davis, mother of Aaron Campbell, who was shot and killed by a Portland
police officer in January 2010, has settled her wrongful death suit against
the City of Portland for $1.2 million. Davis lost two sons that day; Campbell
was upset over the death of his brother and talked of suicide. The police
were called, and as Campbell came out of the apartment, walking backwards
with his arms raised and hands behind his head, he was hit with beanbag
rounds. He was then shot again with a lethal round and died. Campbell
was not armed.
In the aftermath of this tragic shooting there has been some finger pointing
within the Portland Police Bureau. Chief Mike Reese found the lethal shooting
to be in violation of police policy and subsequently fired the officer
who killed Campbell. On the other hand, nearly a dozen training officers
for the bureau came forward to support the officer’s actions, saying
he acted according to bureau training.
The officer in question, Ronald Frashour, is hoping to have his firing
overturned, and the police union is presenting his case to a state arbitrator.
Reese stands by his decision to fire Frashour. Marva Davis hopes the bureau
takes a closer look at its policies and implements some reforms so that
no other families have to endure what hers has.
For more on this story, see
this article and
this one.