Family of Jason Washington, man fatally shot by Portland State police, plans to sue university

Portland's 2018 homicides

One of Jason Washington's daughters stands with his widow, Michelle Washington (right) at the site of his death as part of a #DisarmPSU rally against the arming of campus police. Washington, 45, was fatally shot by two Portland State University campus officers on June 29, 2018.

Correction appended

The wife and adult daughters of a man fatally shot by Portland State University officers near the campus last summer are preparing to sue the university.

A law firm representing Jason Washington’s family notified the university of the pending lawsuit in a letter dated Tuesday.

The formal notice lists a number of potential defendants in the suit, including Portland State University; the university’s Campus Public Safety Office; Officers James Dewey and Shawn McKenzie; Donnell Tanksley, the school’s chief of police at the time; and Rahmat Shoureshi, the university’s president who resigned last month.

A university spokeswoman declined to comment on the pending litigation. Pickett Dummigan McCall LLP will handle the civil suit.

The officers shot Washington, a U.S. postal worker and Navy veteran, in a chaotic scene as Washington tried to break up a fight near the Cheerful Tortoise just before closing on June 29, 2018.

Jason Washington

Jason Washington shown in a 2013 photo from his Facebook page.

Washington earlier in the night had confiscated a friend’s gun after an evening of drinking. He was holding the firearm amid a scuffle when officers ordered him to drop it, then opened fire, police body camera footage shows.

Washington was struck by nine bullets.

The encounter marked the first fatal shooting by the university's police force, which began carrying guns four years ago in a decision decried by activists and some students.

Michelle Washington, Jason Washington’s wife, and their three daughters — Kayla, Alexis and Myriah — joined hundreds of people at PSU last fall to demand an end to the school’s policy of arming its public safety force. The school’s campus police remain armed with guns.

A Multnomah County grand jury later found no criminal wrongdoing by the officers. McKenzie and Dewey have since left PSU’s public safety force.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that James Dewey continues to work as a public safety officer at Portland State University. He left the force in January, according to a university spokesman.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

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