The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officer who fatally shot a mentally ill homeless Portlander last December won't be held legally responsible for his death. On Monday, the Multnomah County District Attorney's office announced that a grand jury had found that Officer Justin Raphael's shooting of Koben Henriksen was "a lawful act of self-defense and/or defense of a third person," according to a press release.

Henriksen was the 5th person to be be shot and killed by PPB officers last year, making 2019 PPB's most fatal year since 2010.

He was also the 20th mentally ill person to be killed by a PPB officer in the last decade. None of the officers responsible for these deaths have faced criminal charges.

Henriksen, 51, was killed on the afternoon of December 8, after he had been spotted waving knives at passing cars near Mall 205 and police were called to the scene. Henriksen had been struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness, and had had a previous encounter with PPB recently that officers managed to de-escalate. Just 13 seconds after approaching Henriksen, Raphael shot him dead.

Sarah Radcliffe, an attorney with Disability Rights Oregon, was one of many local leaders to issue statements last December in the wake of Henriksen's death.

"We owe it to those who've died this year in crisis to find out if there was anything we could have done different to save their lives," Radcliffe said. "It's very clear we need more resources for affordable housing and comprehensive mental health care. But, even with a robust mental health system in place, there are still going to be moments of crisis that require a police officer response—and it’s absolutely unacceptable to respond with deadly force."