Attention, attention: Portland Police officers did not engage in any controversial shootings of civilians this holiday weekend.

Oregon state police troopers, however, can't say the same. In what looks to be a use of force incident with murky details, state trooper Justin Lane shot and injured 37-year-old Clackamas resident Scott Lee Campbell as he walked down 82nd Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

Compare the police and witness accounts of what went down. The state trooper side, via KATU: Police took reports of a reckless driver in a gray Ford Courier pickup truck cruising around SE Portland on Sunday afternoon. The truck allegedly was involved in a hit-and-run that left property damage, then was abandoned on the side of 82nd Avenue.

Alleged knife-weilder and reckless driver Scott Campbell
  • Alleged knife-weilder and reckless driver Scott Campbell

"Trooper Lane was driving on Southeast 82nd Drive when he saw a man who matched the driver's description walking on the east side of the road. The trooper attempted contact with the man who then displayed a knife," reports Oregon State Police in a press release. "During the early seconds of contact, the man - later identified as Campbell - was compliant with the trooper's orders. While holding the man at gunpoint awaiting backup, the man became non-compliant with the trooper's orders. Trooper Lane fired more than one shot from his Glock 40 caliber handgun, striking Campbell twice and injuring him."

A witness account of the incident, from a courier driver on lunch break, makes it seem like Campbell was being mostly compliant. Via KGW:
[Witness] David said the trooper ordered Campbell to stop, to which he complied. Campbell got down on his knees with his hands behind his back according to David. He then rose to stand at the request of Trooper Lane said David. At that point, David said, Campbell pulled a knife from his back waistband or pocket and tossed it to the ground behind him. Trooper Lane requested Campbell to pull up his sleeves to reveal his forearms. Campbell complied according to David. Then, suddenly, Campbell turned and picked up the knife from the ground.

"The guy turned around and grabbed the knife from the bike path and I heard the officer say stop," said David.

David recalls hearing four definitive shots and possibly a fifth. He said Campbell fell to the ground as Lane and an second law enforcement officer told him an ambulance was en route.


One disturbing revelation in this case: the state police have only three Tasers in the Portland area and only 40 Tasers statewide for their 700 officers. The trooper who shot Campbell did not have a Taser on hand.

We'll have more on this case as it develops.