Official Video: Oregon State Police Video Captures Fatal Freeway Shooting

Graphic-ish video.



I couldn't find any details as to why the guy decides to start shooting. Especially with his kids in the car. I'm glad the cop and vehicle occupants are all safe.

The video, released to The Oregonian after a public records request, starts as Trooper Matt Zistel stops a Cadillac driven by John Van Allen, 34. Allen had three of his children with him that afternoon as he pulled over near Biggs Junction.

The video shows Allen stepping out of his car and assuming a military pose. After Zistel repeatedly tells him to get back in his car, Allen pulls a pistol from his waistband, advancing on Zistel and firing.

Relatives said Allen was returning to his native South Carolina at the time of shooting. They said the aggressive action was out of character. He moved to Portland from Pittsburgh. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a construction engineer from 2009 until 2012.

Allen's car was found a half mile away, with Allen dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Link

Did he get shot in the chest during that exchange? If so it is hard to tell and I wonder because if he didn't, did he turn the gun on himself maybe? The kids...geez, horror I am sure.
I am guessing he either had warrants or was transporting contraband to pull a gun on a cop.
The way the guy was acting/standing seemed suspicious as soon as he turned around, I wonder if/why the officer squatted behind his door for protection or if he kept standing and instructing the assailant to comply? I would have been behind the door from the get go.

ETA:Another report says he was taking the kids on a road trip. The guys pics look normal(as in not a bath salt or drug junkie) and I just wonder what happened.
www.kgw.com...
More: His friend of 20 years said these actions were uncharacteristic of Allen, who was a preacher at one point but did have some challenges in his life.

Haines said Allen, who lived along Southeast 92nd Avenue in East Portland, had a total of five children, and had recently become a grandfather when his oldest daughter had a baby. Although his family roots were in South Carolina, he went to school in Pittsburg. Although Allen had a drug problem early in life, she said, he turned his life around after joining the U.S. Army.
Court records, however, show an extensive arrest record in the Pittsburgh area, mostly for traffic offenses, including speeding, running a red light and driving with a suspended license. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in March 2011 after getting into a fight. He and his ex-wife, Amie Allen, lost their home in Pittsburgh to foreclosure in 2009, according to court documents.

In February, Allen tried to secure a restraining order against his ex-wife through Multnomah County Circuit Court; the petition was denied because he failed to establish a claim, court records show.

www.oregonlive.com...
Maybe he figured one more infraction of any kind would forfeit his right to see his kids, and he snapped.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Pretty sure he gets shot when he moves to the passenger side of the squad car. When he pops fully back in to frame it appears he loses his magazine. Get shot, hand tweaks out and hits magazine release. It could have taken awhile for him to bleed out too.

I'm also really wondering what sparked this incident. It seems like the last person a cop is going to search (assuming he was drug smuggling) is a guy on a road trip with his three kids in the car. Warrants makes a lot of sense. Perhaps moving to avoid them.

It seems a little odd he was wearing his uniform if he was no longer in the Guard.

reply to post by Domo1


looks PG to me, I saw no blood

officer didn't really bark at the guy either, other than than obvious tremor of fear, caused by the suspect not complying.
good for him he wasn't killed by this guy.

sigh...

I see what you did there

y'know, domo this could easily have been you who'd been shot,

the inevitable consequences of you,

the officer in the vid,

and all the other self-styled "good cops"

doing nothing at all about purging the jack booted, juiced-up-on-steroids, sociopathic thugs from your respective precincts\departments.

It's much easier to blame the peasants...

so cry me a river, buddy,

because I certainly won't.

regards

reply to post by Metaphysique


** The officer deffinately showed restraint. More than I would have.
That was one odd video.

speculativeoptimist
Did he get shot in the chest during that exchange? If so it is hard to tell and I wonder because if he didn't, did he turn the gun on himself maybe? The kids...geez, horror I am sure.
I am guessing he either had warrants or was transporting contraband to pull a gun on a cop.
The way the guy was acting/standing seemed suspicious as soon as he turned around, I wonder if/why the officer squatted behind his door for protection or if he kept standing and instructing the assailant to comply? I would have been behind the door from the get go.

ETA:Another report says he was taking the kids on a road trip. The guys pics look normal(as in not a bath salt or drug junkie) and I just wonder what happened.
www.kgw.com...
More: His friend of 20 years said these actions were uncharacteristic of Allen, who was a preacher at one point but did have some challenges in his life.

Haines said Allen, who lived along Southeast 92nd Avenue in East Portland, had a total of five children, and had recently become a grandfather when his oldest daughter had a baby. Although his family roots were in South Carolina, he went to school in Pittsburg. Although Allen had a drug problem early in life, she said, he turned his life around after joining the U.S. Army.
Court records, however, show an extensive arrest record in the Pittsburgh area, mostly for traffic offenses, including speeding, running a red light and driving with a suspended license. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in March 2011 after getting into a fight. He and his ex-wife, Amie Allen, lost their home in Pittsburgh to foreclosure in 2009, according to court documents.

In February, Allen tried to secure a restraining order against his ex-wife through Multnomah County Circuit Court; the petition was denied because he failed to establish a claim, court records show.

www.oregonlive.com...

edit on 4-10-2013 by speculativeoptimist because: (no reason given)

I thought the police officer used more restraint than many of the guys I know on the force. I kept waiting for the officer to shoot when the guy approached his cruiser especially after telling him several times to return to his vehicle... I would darn sure have shot or secured cover... The guys body posture was all wrong from the get go IMO.
Or maybe the citizen thought he had been screwed by the system and or had watched to many youtube cops beating others...

Maybe someplace in his character he decided to arm himself and maybe think, "The next mofo that messes with me is gonna get it"! That very scenario has worried me about as much as anything as far as citizens and police interactions. A vicious cycle of perceived injustice by cops and certain segments of society which causes them to think they have nothing else to lose because their life is a wreck of hopelessness .... Even a mouse will bite the crap out of you if you bug it enough... Things need to settle down before they get worse on both sides.

Seems like the guy had some sort of psychotic break, probably due in part to the issues he was having with employment and his ex maybe. I'm also wondering if he saw combat. Just sad. Glad the trooper is (relatively) okay.

madmangunradio
reply to post by Metaphysique

 

DID YOU WATCH THAT VIDEO

twice.

did you?

no brains/blood spattering,
no guts spilled.

just an exaggerated description of a scene seen daily on TV/ the movies

madmangunradio
reply to post by Metaphysique

 

** The officer deffinately showed restraint. More than I would have.
That was one odd video.

edit on 10/4/2013 by madmangunradio because: emotions

and I've acknowledged that

odd indeed, and I suspect the officer was on his own, but not graphic.

reply to post by Metaphysique


I am having one weird week. Yes I watched it more than once. Didn't need to. He gets pulled over gets out and the cop asks him to get back in his car. NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. He walks up and unloads on the officer. I'm no fan of the police, but .. WTF

* Did I miss something?

reply to post by Domo1


This is a fine example of an Oregon LEO. In some places, that man would have been shot six times before taking that first step. He could have been tired, overworked, depressed, just lost his wife, etc... so many reasons for a man to act like that guy did so the cop showed restraint. Unfortunately, the dude had a gun and was obviously dangerous.

I hope this incident doesn't sour his future career and make him shoot first and ask questions later. I'm afraid that guy might have ruined a good cop.

paranoid.... oh so paranoid....

reply to post by Metaphysique

y'know, domo this could easily have been you who'd been shot,

the inevitable consequences of you,

the officer in the vid,

and all the other self-styled "good cops"

doing nothing at all about purging the jack booted, juiced-up-on-steroids, sociopathic thugs from your respective precincts\departments.

It's much easier to blame the peasants...

so cry me a river, buddy,

because I certainly won't.

I didn't understand any of this. Which guy could have been me, the cop?

I don't know how I'm supposed to do much of anything about the 'jack booted thugs' in my precinct or department, considering I'm not a cop. I don't get what that had to do with the video at all. Are you somehow faulting the cop in the video?

Blame the peasants for what? Who are they?

I'm not crying about anything. I think it was a sad situation, the cop showed a lot of restraint (probably too much). What are you not going to cry a river about?

I also don't get where you quoted me as saying 'I see what you did there'.

I read that reply a few times and it's just not clicking for me. Do you mind wording it differently? Do you think the cop did something wrong?

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Contrary to what is show on tv and in movies, when people are shot it does not always look like how its portrayed.

You can surf the youtube videos of fatal law enforcement encounters and you will see people being shot (both sides sadly) without all the blood / gore (well there is always gore but you get the idea).

Metaphysique

y'know, domo this could easily have been you who'd been shot,

the inevitable consequences of you,

the officer in the vid,

and all the other self-styled "good cops"

doing nothing at all about purging the jack booted, juiced-up-on-steroids, sociopathic thugs from your respective precincts\departments.

It's much easier to blame the peasants...

so cry me a river, buddy,

because I certainly won't.

regards

So if Domo is the cop, which is correct in this case, that would make you the guy who opted to break the law by speeding, then place his children in danger by doing so, then attempting to murder law enforcement?

The guy in the car got exactly what he deserved and then some...

Should your attitude result in a similar situation I certainly wont be crying a river for you..

madmangunradio
reply to post by Metaphysique

 

I am having one weird week. Yes I watched it more than once. Didn't need to. He gets pulled over gets out and the cop asks him to get back in his car. NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. He walks up and unloads on the officer. I'm no fan of the police, but .. WTF

* Did I miss something?

no fan here either, and as I'm clearing up to Domo am quite complimentary regarding restraint
for once, I'm not defending the "victim" as it was he who initiated the use of force.

had the officer irrational initiated an assault, say after a brief period of cooperation as a law abiding citizen, as is the norm,I certainly would have defended his right to pull a gun and shoot him in self defense not to mention concern for his children's well being not just physical but also most importantly pschological

reply to post by Domo1


Now this cop is a pro IMHO. He knew from the start what was coming and gave the guy every chance in the world to not do it. Once the guy pulled the gun, the Cop popped him in the chest.

Injured he did not give chase and make the situation worse. Instead he called in to alert.

My respect goes to this Officer of the law. He is a good man, and out of many cop videos this was one of the most professionally and humanly handled I have ever seen.

It takes balls to be a good cop and this Officer has ones of steal.

The Rat.

Domo1
reply to post by Metaphysique

 

y'know, domo this could easily have been you who'd been shot,

the inevitable consequences of you,

the officer in the vid,

and all the other self-styled "good cops"

doing nothing at all about purging the jack booted, juiced-up-on-steroids, sociopathic thugs from your respective precinctsdepartments.

It's much easier to blame the peasants...

so cry me a river, buddy,

because I certainly won't.

I didn't understand any of this. Which guy could have been me, the cop?

I don't know how I'm supposed to do much of anything about the 'jack booted thugs' in my precinct or department, considering I'm not a cop. I don't get what that had to do with the video at all.
I was under the impression, based on past postings of yours, that you were in LE, should you find that offensive, 'twas not my intent


Blame the peasants for what? Who are they?
why civilians of course
I'm not crying about anything. I think it was a sad situation, the cop showed a lot of restraint (probably too much).
Indeed, the right hand kept hidden, would have had me drawing and aiming myself
What are you not going to cry a river about?

I also don't get where you quoted me as saying 'I see what you did there'.
I'm sorry? was your name there anywhere?
it's an ATS...
meme? saying? e.g.


"pics or it didn't happen."


I read that reply a few times and it's just not clicking for me. Do you mind wording it differently? Do you think the cop did something wrong?
I'm quite confident that despite your conditioning, you're smart enough to figure it out, unlike the LEO with the pretentious user name* [who seems to have outed you[?]] you're not twisting my post to mean the opposite, whether in his own mind/perception or as a sophistry, your reply though almost goes there, but your relationship to truth got in the way**

* look it up

**Are you somehow faulting the cop in the video?

in no wise. other than the generic failure to clean house of rotten apples all "good cops" are guilty of.
in this rare case, the "victim" was clearly in the wrong, because he initiated the use of force, however the continuing abusive actions of LE, like all violence will only breed more violence, and sympathy will be in short supply then, irrespective of whatever twistings of the mind and words LEO's and their apologists may use to justify.
[color]

yeah cannot fault the cop on that one ...we see way to much heavy handed acts on the cops behalf but this is not one of those incidents....and as an earlier poster said I hope this doesn't taint this copper for future incidents that may occur

reply to post by Domo1


If you notice in the video the guy has his right hand behind his back from the get go - obviously hiding his gun.

It's amazing the cop didn't shoot him first based on that, his unwillingness to get back in the car, and his advancement toward the cop right before he began shooting.

After watching so many vids showing cops going overboard the other way this just shows that there are also cops who show remarkable restraint in not trying to seriously hurt someone.

Thanks - I needed that.