IT TOOK OFFICER Jason Walters a moment to realize what was going on. Dispatching himself on a routine call on the afternoon of Monday, March 22: A drunken, homeless man harassing people at Hoyt Arboretum had locked himself in a bathroom outside the arboretum office. Officer Walters knocked on the bathroom door twice, but didn’t identify himself as an officer. The door opened, and a blood-soaked man holding an X-Acto knife emerged.
“The first thing I thought when I saw him was ‘Oh my God, what’s, what’s wrong with this, what, what’s going on?'” Walters told investigators. He radioed for backup, and 10 seconds later, Walters shot the bloody man, Jack Dale Collins, four times.
Police released the interview with Walters and 18 witnesses on Monday, April 5, in a 456-page packet of police reports describing Portland’s second police shooting this year. The next day, the police released a photo of the X-Acto knife Collins was carrying, which police had previously described as a “razor knife with a six-inch handle.” The bloody silver knife had a one-inch blade.
The reports provide insight into Walters’ thinking as he made the quick decision to use lethal force against Collins, a homeless man who had lived on Portland’s streets for more than 20 years [“The Life and Death of Jack Dale Collins,” Feature, April 1].
After radioing in for cover, Walters started backing up and told Collins, “Drop it, drop it.” Walters says Collins locked eyes with him and started walking slowly toward him. Walters was not sure whether there was someone else in the bathroom behind Collins. He was also worried Collins might bolt inside the arboretum office.
Then, according to Walters, Collins said, “No, I’m not going to do that, I won’t.” Walters drew his gun.
The investigator asked Walters how he had felt at this moment. “I… I was scared; I mean, I was really startled,” replied Walters.
Walters also had a Taser, pepper spray, and baton on his belt, but told investigators that once he drew his gun, it would have been too dangerous to use one hand to switch to a different weapon.
Walters was also not certain that the Taser’s probes could pierce Collins’ jacket. “I remember thinking the jacket looked like a jacket you might sleep out at night in,” said Walters. Backing up against a large potted plant, Walters told Collins again to “drop it” and then fired two rounds of two shots. Collins bled to death on the scene.
On Friday, April 2, a grand jury declined to pursue any criminal charges against Walters.
So ofc. Walters was ‘scared’, huh? Funny, i wonder how a startled Jackie Collins felt in that moment… right before he was shot to death 4 times?
Gee, that reminds me – i wonder why James Chasse ran away from the cops back in Sept. 2006? Was it b/c he was commiting a crime? Or might it have been b/c Chasse was ill & afraid that the cops would KILL him?
Oh please. If Jack Collins was really that scared, he wouldn’t have been walking at a cop, bloodied up, with a razor in his hand.
I’m no cop lover, but damn. The people trying to defend this homeless guy are reaching awfully far into the ridiculous just to try to condemn this cop for defending himself. Sure, maybe this cop could have further risked his life while trying to subdue this guy, but what makes this homeless guy’s life worth more than the cop’s? The cops are people too (… there are some obvious exceptions, this guy doesn’t have a track record of wantonly destroying people that I know of).
Just because some of the cops are psychopaths doesn’t mean all of them are. In fact, it’s a very small minority that is making things difficult for most of them. The ones who are repeat offenders, obvious problems, need to be taken care of. But this guy was justified, there was someone coming at him with a knife, and anyone coming at a cop with a knife had DAMN WELL EXPECT TO GET SHOT.
Spoken like a true cop lover. Case closed.
Why, because you say it’s closed?
Even if I was a cop lover, how is that ‘case closed’?
Someone needs to get over themselves…
Have any of you morons considered that this bum wanted to die? Pulling a knife on a cop (and refusing to drop it) is not the road to longevity. Sixth graders grasp this concept. Right or wrong that is reality. The sky is blue, water is wet, and cops will shoot you if you pull a weapon on them. The term “suicide by cop” exists for exactly this type of situation. Save your sympathy for people who deserve it.
“Someone needs to get over themselves…”
I’ll certainly say. Perhaps YOU can start…
@Clem, I have brought that point up before, I agree with you that people do not seem to be grasping this possibility
@Mollymaverick, excellent points, but don’t bother arguing with assclowns. As we all know everything is a conspiracy and it makes total sense to compare to completely different cases and come to the same conclusion…..wait, no it does’nt. DamosA is an asshat, I have witnessed his drivel on these blog comments several times.
@DamosA-you are an assclown.
I guess cops don’t know what x-acto knives are.