A total of 37 rounds were fired at Portland shooting suspect Michael Reinoehl after he was tracked down by a U.S. Marshals-led task force near Lacey last month, according to a Wednesday update on the case from Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Reinoehl, 48, died that night. He was wanted for the shooting of a right-wing supporter in the Portland area in August.
Wednesday's release was the latest weekly update of a case that has sparked national interest and coverage, including from The New York Times, which published a story Wednesday titled, "'Straight to gunshots': NYT breaks down killing of activist Michael Reinoehl near Lacey."
Thurston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Ray Brady said the Wednesday update, which to date have been released on Thursdays, was in response to the Times' story. The purpose was not to fact-check any of the reporting, according to Brady, but to ensure the same information he had shared only with the Times was known by all media outlets.
"I don't want there to be any appearance that we're trying to hide or cover up anything in this investigation," Brady said. The Sheriff's Office is leading the five-county Region 3 Critical Incident Investigation Team that's collecting evidence in the fatal shooting.
The Sheriff's Office provided the following narrative of what happened in the early evening of Sept. 3 on Wednesday, which was based on reports of five officers directly involved, one of whom didn't shoot their weapon, and several "eye and ear" witnesses, Brady said.
According to the update:
Around 7 p.m. Sept. 3, Reinoehl exited his apartment carrying two bags and went to his parked vehicle on the street in front of the apartment. Officers moved in, including one who opened his car door and gave Reinoehl verbal commands.
In a phone call Wednesday, Brady said "verbal commands" were given throughout the incident by each of the four officers who fired their weapons.
Two officers reported that Reinoehl began reaching toward the center console of the vehicle, and one thought he observed a handgun being "presented" by the suspect toward the officers.
Officers opened fire; Reinoehl exited the vehicle and fled behind it.
"The officers continued to fire at Reinoehl," the narrative reads.
It goes on to say the following:
"The officers on that side of the vehicle reported that he continued to reach around his waistband and was attempting to manipulate his firearm. Reinoehl then moved toward the location of two other officers and they fired their weapons. They say he had his hand near his waistband and pocket where they observed a firearm.
"Reinoehl then fell to the ground and still had his hand on the partially withdrawn firearm in his pocket. His hand was removed from the firearm by the officers so he could be placed in handcuffs, prior to CPR and other medical aid. The firearm was left in his pocket by the officers."
Two officers fired handguns and two officers fired rifles at the suspect during the incident, according to the update.
Investigators previously recovered one fired shell casing from a .380 caliber handgun in Reinoehl's vehicle and found a .22 caliber, AR-15-style rifle in a bag.
No officers were carrying or fired a weapon of that caliber, The Olympian reported.
"We continue to wait on information from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab regarding the .380 casing and the weapons in Reinoehl's possession," Thurston County Sheriff's Office officials said in the update.
A report from Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica published Tuesday, titled "New Eyewitness Accounts: Feds Didn't Identify Themselves Before Opening Fire on Portland Antifa Suspect," includes that eyewitnesses reporters interviewed agree they heard no warning from federal agents and saw no flashing lights.
The official narrative out of the Sheriff's Office includes the verbal warning. As for the flashing lights: Brady told The Olympian one officer believed lights had been activated but that, at this point, investigators do not believe emergency lights were activated on the two SUVs that pulled up in front of Reinoehl's vehicle before the shooting occurred.
Brady was not sure about lights in a third vehicle, which he said pulled up a short distance behind Reinoehl's vehicle in the roadway.
Brady estimated about 10-15 seconds passed between officers moving in and when the incident was over.
"This was a very, very dynamic, fast-moving scenario that unfolded," he said.
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