Deadly force investigators clear officers in shooting death of 18-year-old in Eugene

A deadly force investigation has determined officers were justified in the Sept. 14 shooting death of an 18-year-old who charged at an officer after the stolen vehicle he was driving was cornered in the parking lot of an condominium complex at Coburg and Harlow roads.

A Lane County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the parking lot to find two Oregon State Police troopers and a Coburg Police officer on the ground with Lucas Jansma, fighting for an object and yelling about a gun, said the report released Thursday.

Sheriff's Sgt. Ryan Lane, who fired a single round into Jansma's head, feared one of the officers might be shot and killed if he did not stop Jansma from gaining further control of the gun, according to the investigative report led by the Eugene Police Department with help from Springfield Police detectives.

"He knew, based on his twenty-four years of experience and training that this scenario was a deadly force situation, and the best way to stop Jansma from continuing to be a threat to all of the officers and general public was deadly force," the report said.

Investigators said they determined the casing from the round Jansma fired from Coburg Sgt. Mike Lee's duty-issued .45 caliber Glock pistol into his buttocks did not eject because the pistol was still inside the holster.

"That is the only thing that prevented Jansma from continuing to fire the gun inside the holster," the report detailed. "The holster was turned by Jansma to an upward position as he fought to remove the gun from the holster or continue firing the gun from within the holster."

The Lane County District Attorney's Office released the report and did not immediately respond to requests about questions from The Register-Guard.

Report of a stolen Subaru from Seattle being tracked on I-5

Oregon State Police received a call about 9:11 a.m. from a Seattle resident who said he was tracking a stolen 2022 Subaru Crosstrek via GPS, traveling south on Interstate 5 in Oregon. The following is what occurred after that, according to the report.

During the call, the man explained that his home in Seattle had been burglarized and his car, which was registered under his father's name, was stolen.

OSP entered an "Attempt to Locate" call for service to troopers in the area of Interstate 5 in Linn County.

The vehicle was located near a McDonald's on East Pearl Street in Coburg. Lane County Sheriff's dispatch informed Lee, who tried to stop the driver.

Jansma drove away and eluded officers as he drove southbound on I-5 toward Eugene.

Troopers, Lane County Sheriff's deputies and Lee tracked the vehicle as it came into Eugene and drove west on the Beltline Highway and onto the Delta Highway before making a loop east to the Coburg Road exit.

Lee initiated a brief pursuit until the Subaru reached speeds of 90 miles per hour. Minutes later, the Subaru was located turning into the Viking Condominiums.

An altercation, an officer shot and a struggle for the weapon

As Lee responded to the area, two OSP troopers described as Luquin and Burger turned into the apartment complex, followed by Lane. The investigative report and audio recording detailed the following sequence of events.

All four officers followed Jansma as he drove into a dead-end parking area on the east side of the complex.

Lee stopped his car behind Jansma, who got out and threw a backpack at the windshield of the patrol vehicle, walked directly toward the officer and challenged him, saying "What's up."

"Sergeant Lee stepped out of his patrol car, activated his body camera, and engaged Jansma to arrest him, and was immediately forced to fight due to Jansma's aggressive response."

In an audio recording from Lee's camera, which was knocked from his uniform, Lee can be heard telling Jansma that he's under arrest while engaging in a physical altercation.

During the struggle, Jansma grabbed Lee's holstered pistol, wrenched it into a firing position and shot a round that struck the officer in his buttocks.

Lee can be heard calling out that he'd been shot and "he's got my gun."

Trooper Burger tackled Jansma and Lee to the ground. The fight continued with Jansma's hand "in a firing position" on Lee's holstered pistol.

Multiple people in the audio recording can be heard shouting commands to Jansma to "let go of the gun."

Lee struck Jansma in the head with a "hammer fist" and told Burger he had been shot.

Trooper Luquin grabbed Jansma's left hand, which was "tightly gripping" Lee's holstered firearm with his finger on the trigger.

"Trooper Burger said during his interview that he feared Jansma would try to kill any one of the four officers in the fight and could not let go of Jansma's right arm for fear of Jansma having both hands available to fight, and eventually gain control of the gun."

None of the three officers were able to remove Jansma's hand from the gun.

As Lane arrived, he saw the three officers fighting over an object while yelling about the gun.

Seconds later, Lane, who did not turn on his body camera, fired "two, unsighted, close-range rounds" approximately 2 seconds apart, at Jansma's head. The first shot missed and struck asphalt.

Trooper Luquin's taser can be heard on the audio deploying simultaneously to the two shots fired by Lane.

Jansma was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital - Riverbend where he was pronounced dead at 11:13 a.m. Lee was treated by medics on scene.

Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@registerguard.com

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Investigators clear officers in death of 18-year-old in Eugene