Milwaukie police officers shot an unarmed 21-year-old man through the rear window of his car last month and waited at least a half hour before giving medical aid, his attorney claims.
Hunter Newton was shot by two Milwaukie police officers after allegedly refusing to exit his car during a traffic stop Sept. 30 at a Taco Bell parking lot, authorities have said. The shooting occurred just before 1 a.m.
Newton was struck in the shoulder and back of his head while sitting in his car, his parents wrote in a statement released Friday through their attorney, Thomas Rask III. Newton remains in critical care at Oregon Health & Science University and “continues to fight for his life,” the statement read.
“Physicians have advised Hunter’s family that the bullet that is lodged in his brain is inoperable,” Newton’s parents, Brian Newton and Janette Johnson, wrote.
They also said they learned that at least 30 minutes passed from when officers fired their weapons to when they provided medical assistance. Rask wrote that initial information at this time “indicates the officers had no reason to escalate the encounter to a circumstance where Hunter could lose his life or suffer life-altering injuries.”
His parents hope for a quick investigation to determine why officers stopped and shot Hunter, Rask wrote. When reached by phone, he said he is conducting his own investigation into the shooting.
The Oregon Department of Justice will take over the investigation into the shooting before it heads to a grand jury, the Clackamas County District Attorney announced last week.
Police had said Newton was driving with a suspended license and ignored multiple orders from officers to leave his car. The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office has said officers attempted to forcibly remove him from the car and fired their guns during that time and struck Newton.
The officers involved in the shooting were identified as Sgt. Eduardo Sanchez, a 10-year veteran of the police department, and Officer Kwasean Akom, who has been with the department for a year and a half.
In the statement, Newton’s parents thanked the doctors, nurses and staff who have been working to help Newton. “Every minute is fragile right now, and we don’t know what is going to come next in Hunter’s future,” Rask wrote.
“We do know that his life is forever changed, and his family is heartbroken that in one unthinkable moment, every hope and dream they had for Hunter was wiped away.”
— Zaeem Shaikh covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-221-4323, [email protected] or on X @zaeemshake.
