Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy justified in shooting 21-year-old man who pointed gun at him, DA says

A Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy rushed to the scene and confronted the armed 21-year-old guy on a sidewalk earlier this month after he jumped residential fences to escape from police in Gresham.

According to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, Ladarius Collins approached Deputy Adam Suboh after he exited his police cruiser and aimed his gun at him.

Collins turned and attempted to run up a neighboring driveway after Suboh fired six shots at him, the DA’s office reported on Friday. After being hit once, Collins was brought to a hospital and passed away.

According to the prosecution, Suboh had a lawful justification for shooting Collins on June 13. Within a week, it was the second shooting by a Multnomah County deputy.

In a document outlining its conclusion, the district attorney’s office stated that Deputy Suboh felt forced to shoot Mr. Collins at that precise moment because he had a reasonable belief, considering everything that had happened up to that point, that he would be shot and killed if he did not act immediately.

Along with the home security and traffic camera footage that showed the shooting, the office also offered an account of what happened. At the moment, Multnomah County sheriff deputies do not wear cameras on their bodies.

In December, the sheriff’s office recruited Suboh. According to state records, he had served five years as a Portland police officer prior to then.

Prosecutors said that Collins and his brother got into a fight at the Cameron Park apartments near Northeast 162nd Avenue and Glisan Street at around 7:30 p.m., which led to the shooting. According to the letter, a 911 caller stated that several people were present when a man—later identified as Collins—pulled out a revolver.

When the magazine dropped out, a witness said he saw Collins approach his brother with a revolver. According to the letter, the witness claimed that Collins pinned him after he snatched the magazine and ordered that it be returned. Collins scooped up the magazine that the witness had thrown to the ground and inserted it into the gun.

According to the document, the brothers kept fighting, and the witness observed Collins put the gun to his brother’s head. Collins fled north on 162nd Avenue shortly after hearing police sirens.

Suboh was driving his patrol cruiser about two miles northeast of the spot as Gresham officers arrived. He heard the radio broadcast of the suspect’s description and the call regarding the disturbance. According to the report, he started looking for Collins on side streets after entering the area south down 162nd Avenue from Northeast Sandy Boulevard.

He noticed a man who fit Collins’ description driving down Glisan with someone who was later revealed to be Collins’ girlfriend. Prosecutors said that Suboh tracked them and used the radio to report their whereabouts.

According to the memo, he lost sight of them close to Northeast Everett Court.

After responding, a Gresham police officer noticed a woman gesturing north as he drove along Everett to Northeast 167th Place. Then the police noticed a man pointing toward the rear of his property from his driveway.

According to the letter, the Gresham officer then observed Collins and his girlfriend strolling into the rear of the man’s property. They started scaling the fence into the next yard despite the officer’s yells for them to halt.

Prosecutors claim that two additional Gresham cops came and rushed in their direction. Officers were seen running through the backyard and jumping a fence into a neighboring house in Gresham police body cam footage.

The body camera footage showed one officer saying, “Put your hands up, hands up,” followed by another adding, “Stop, stop now.”

Suboh learned that Collins had been found at 167th Place and Everett Court while police attempted to apprehend him. Gresham cops were fleeing east as he arrived at the scene.

Gresham cops’ body camera footage showed Collins’ girlfriend halting as two officers, brandishing their firearms, instructed her to raise her hands. After that, it seemed as though the two officers lost sight of Collins, and one of them inquired as to which way he walked.

According to the memo, Suboh heard that Collins’ girlfriend had stopped, but that Collins was still running east and jumping fences. In order to confine Collins, he turned on his police lights, drove around the next block to 168th Avenue, and then continued north.

According to the document, Suboh seen Collins emerge from a yard and approach him on the 168th Avenue sidewalk. Just prior to the incident, Suboh was seen on a house security camera hastily parking his car and exiting.

Although the house camera footage is unclear, prosecutors claimed that Suboh pulled out his gun and ordered Collins to drop to the ground. Prosecutors and the video show that he fired after Collins approached him and aimed a weapon at him.

Prosecutors wrote that Suboh was alone at the moment, without any additional cops or deputies.

According to Collins’ girlfriend, who was contacted by police later, Collins told her that he didn’t want to return to jail and that police were searching for him. According to the district attorney’s letter, he threatened to harm her if she didn’t follow him.

Collins was on probation at the time of the shooting, according to court documents.

After reviewing the incident, Chief Deputy District Attorney Todd Jackson and Deputy District Attorney Eric Palmer noted in the memo that Collins had disregarded Suboh’s orders to descend to the ground.

They wrote that Suboh had little chance to think of other options or even to alert Collins that he would be shot.

Nathan Vasquez, the district attorney for Multnomah County, stated in a statement, “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this tragic loss of life.” Families, communities, and all parties concerned are greatly affected by any death in these situations.

For The Oregonian/OregonLive, Zaeem Shaikh writes about criminal justice problems and the Portland Police Bureau. You may contact him by X@zaeemshake, 503-221-4323, or zshaikh@oregonian.com.

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