Michael Gregory Johnson
PPB Case #15-385104
Date: November 6, 2015
Suspect: Michael Gregory Johnson, 51
Involved Officers: Officer Russell Corno, Officer Chad Daul
On Friday, November 6, 2015, at 5:41 a.m., Central Precinct officers responded to the east side of Good Samaritan Hospital located in Northwest Portland on a report of a man in the parking lot holding a gun to his head.
Numerous officers responded as well as the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) and Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT). Several officers, including those who have received Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team (ECIT) training, attempted to talk with the suspect, but he did not engage with them in any meaningful dialogue.
As officers were attempting to talk to the man, he fired two rounds into the ground from a handgun, separated by a few minutes. Several minutes after the second shot, the man fired a third round from his handgun toward police officers at the scene. Two SERT officers, Officer Russell Corno and Chad Daul, both 22-year veterans, fired at the subject, striking him.
As soon as the suspect was down on the ground, another SERT officer fired a less lethal baton at his lower extremities as the suspect was still armed with the gun. Seeing no response, SERT officers approached the suspect and began to render aid, calling for Portland Fire & Rescue Paramedics (assigned to SERT) to treat the suspect's injuries. Medical efforts were unsuccessful and the man, later identified as 51-year-old Michael Gregory Johnson, died at the scene. Family members later said the man had quit taking his medicine prescribed for a mental illness. Suicide notes to his family were found on his person. The State Medical Examiner's office ruled Johnson's death a suicide.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office presented the case to a Grand Jury on December 4, 2015, which determined that the officers were justified in the use of deadly physical force.
As part of the use of force review process, the Bureau conducts an internal review of the entire incident and the case will go before the Police Review Board (PRB), which is composed of community members, Bureau members and representatives from the Independent Police Review Division.
The Portland Police Bureau's directive outlining the procedures followed after an officer-involved shooting may be found in Directive 1010.10.