National Roundup

Utah
Police vow to work with probe of shooting of autistic boy

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A police department vowed Tuesday to cooperate with multiple investigations of the shooting of a 13-year-old autistic boy by officers in the Salt Lake City area.

The Salt Lake City Police Department said the officers were called to a home in Glendale, Utah, Friday night with a report of a boy who had threatened people with a weapon. The boy reportedly ran and was shot by an officer after being pursued by police.

The Salt Lake City Police Department said in the statement Tuesday that each time there is an shooting incident involving an officer, "a protocol team made up of officers from multiple agencies with no ties to the Salt Lake City Police Department conducts an independent investigation. We are cooperating fully with the protocol team assigned to this case."

The department added that the city's "Civilian Review Board and our own Internal Affairs will also conduct parallel separate investigations."

The boy's mother, Golda Barton, told KUTV-TV that her son has autism and she had called police because he was having a breakdown and needed a crisis intervention team.

Barton claimed she told police her son was unarmed and warned them that he did not know how to regulate his behavior.

A few minutes after two officers who had arrived went through the front door of the home, Barton said she heard an order to "get on the ground" and several gunshots.

No weapon was found Friday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The boy was recovering in the hospital and listed in serious condition. He had injuries to his shoulder, ankles, intestines and bladder, Barton said.

Salt Lake Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement late Sunday that the shooting was a tragedy and called for a swift and transparent investigation.

More details are expected to be released within 10 business days when police body camera footage is released, as required under a city ordinance.

Oregon
City to pay nearly $1M over police killing of man

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The estate of a man who was shot to death by police last summer will receive nearly $1 million in a wrongful death settlement from the City of Portland.

Lane Christopher Martin was one day shy of 32 when Portland police shot him nine times on July 30, 2019. An autopsy report showed Martin died after wounds perforated both his lungs and heart, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Martin was struggling with addiction and mental health issues when he was killed by Officer Gary Doran of the Portland Police Bureau.

A grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of police in Martin's death, but the City of Portland has agreed to pay his estate $975,000 in a settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit.

The mayor's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

"Lane's family is hopeful that this settlement sends a message to the Portland Police Bureau that they must do better when dealing with people in crisis," said Jesse Merrithew, the lawyer for Martin's family.

Police had responded to a report of a man causing a disturbance with a weapon in a grocery store parking lot. According to officials, a store security guard confronted the man who displayed what witnesses described as an ax or hatchet.

Officers first fired sponge-tipped munitions at Martin, causing him to drop the weapon and flee. Police followed him through an apartment courtyard where he was shot multiple times and died.

Maine
Defendant: Mask requirement would be prejudicial in trial

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A New York man who's about to go on trial on charges that he killed a woman in Down East Maine believes masks worn during the pandemic could prejudice the jury against him.

In court documents, Carine Reeves' attorney said that wearing a mask could be prejudicial since masks are associated with crime. Reeves, a Black man, contends his rights would be violated by a mask requirement.

He was due to make his arguments Wednesday in front of a judge.

Reeves, 39, is charged with murder in the death of Sally Shaw in 2017. The 55-year-old was shot in the head and her body was left on the side of a road in Cherryfield.

The trial is scheduled to begin later this month. It would be one of the first to take place in the state since the pandemic began.

South Dakota
Father fatally attacked with hammer, 2 others injured

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A man is accused of using a hammer to kill a father who was asleep with his young children and seriously injure two others in a Rapid City home.

Relatives said the victim, 39-year-old Rich Montanez, was letting the man, who was the friend of a friend, stay at his house because he was homeless. Allac "AJ" Dismounts Thrice, 28, is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the Sept. 3 attack.

Family members say Montanez was a single father of three children, 3- and 7-year-old boys and a 6-year-old daughter. The victim's sister-in-law, Tiffany Dubray-Terzo, says the boys were sleeping with their dad when he was attacked.

Dubray-Terzo says the two women in the home, Montanez's roommate and the roommate's friend, were also attacked and are hospitalized in intensive care. One of the women managed to escape the house with the children.

A magistrate judge on Tuesday set a $1 million cash bond for Dismounts Thrice. A public defender said he had no comment on bond because Dismounts Thrice said he didn't want his office to represent him.

State's Attorney Mark Vargo said it's too early to make a decision whether to pursue the death penalty, the Rapid City Journal  reported.

Dismounts Thrice had been released from jail six days before the assault after a judge agreed to reduce his bond on charges of drug possession and receiving a stolen vehicle, court records show.