OREGON LAW ENFORCEMENT DEATHS AND ILLEGAL GUNS An Everytown for Gun Safety analysis of FBI data over the last 30 years shows that more than half of Oregon police officers shot to death with guns that were not their own were killed by people who were barred from possessing firearms.

To conduct the analysis, Everytown obtained the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) database covering felonious deaths of law enforcement from 1980 to 2011v and updated it with additional incidents from press clippings. For all incidents in which an officer was killed with a firearm that was not his or her own, Everytown identified the assailant and then researched state and federal criminal records and contemporaneous newspaper records to determine if the individual was prohibited by law from possessing firearms.

Two-thirds of Oregon enforcement intentionally killed in the line of duty between 1980 and 2014 were killed with guns. Of the 9 Oregon enforcement officers shot to death during this period with firearms that were not their own, at least 5 — 56% percent — were killed by individuals who were prohibited from possessing firearms.

Police are at the front line of gun violence, and no single policy can completely ensure their safety—but strong gun laws that reduce the flow of guns to criminals can help save lives. Loopholes in Oregon’s current laws make it all too easy for dangerous people who are prohibited from possessing guns to dodge a background check and buy a gun from an unlicensed seller. Expanding background checks to cover all gun sales—including those online—will protect cops. In states that require background checks for every gun sale, police are 48 percent less likely to be killed with handguns.1

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Data: FBI LEOKA and press clippings, 1980-2014

Law Enforcement Officers Intentionally Killed in the Line of Duty 1980- 2014

Firearm thatwas not his orher own: 50%

Firearm thatbelonged to

17%

Stabbed: 11%

Explosives: 17%

Otherweapons: 6%

Law Enforcement Shot to Death with Guns that Were Not Their Own 1980- 2014

Data: FBI LEOKA and press clippings, 1980-2014

Assailant prohibited: 56%

No evidenceassailant prohibited: 44%

SEPTEMBER 14, 2002 | CURTIN

Korry Lee Jones, 36, shot and killed Douglas

County Deputy Sheriff Morris Taylor with a rifle.

Taylor was responding to a call regarding

public indecency at a motel when Jones

confronted him. Both were killed in the ensuing

gunfight. Jones was prohibited from

possessing firearms: In 1992, he was convicted

of possessing methamphetamine in Douglas

County, Oregon. In addition to being sentenced to 90 days in jail, the court ordered Jones to “neither own, possess nor control any

firearm or any other specified weapon.” And in 2001, Jones pled guilty to resisting arrest, escape, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and

fourth degree assault for stealing a police car and assaulting four Lane County Sheriff’s deputies; and again, in addition to three

years in prison, he was ordered not to possess firearms as part of his sentence.2

JANUARY 27, 1998 | PORTLAND

Stephen Douglas Dons, 37, shot and killed Officer Colleen Ann Waibel of the Portland Police Department with an SKS assault rifle as

she attempted to arrest Dons for operating a marijuana-growing operation. Waibel and another officer bashed in his front door and

were shot as they came down his hallway. Inside Dons’ home, police found an arsenal of weapons that included shotguns, rifles,

handguns, and a homemade grenade launcher. News reports indicate Dons has an extensive criminal record in Las Vegas and had

been convicted of obstructing a police officer, resisting arrest, resisting a police officer, battery with a deadly weapon, using a

deadly weapon in the commission of a crime, and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.3

JULY 20, 1997 | PORTLAND

Eufronio “Antonio” Hernandez, 20, shot and killed Officer Thomas L. Jeffries of the Portland Police Department with a .38-caliber

semiautomatic handgun. Hernandez had been arguing with his girlfriend and had fled after shooting and injuring her and a

seven-year-old boy. Jeffries spotted Hernandez’s car and tried to force it to stop, at which point Hernandez shot and killed Jeffries.

Hernandez came to Oregon in early 1995 from Oaxaca, Mexico and lacked proper documentation; he was prohibited from

possessing firearms due to his immigration status.4

SEPTEMBER 30, 1992 | KLAMATH FALLS

Francisco Manzo-Hernandez, 30, shot and

killed Senior Trooper Bret Robert Clodfelter of

the Oregon State Police with a .38-caliber

handgun. Clodfelter had just arrested a drunk

driver whose passengers included Hernandez

and another man, both of whom were also

intoxicated. Clodfelter volunteered to drive the pair home to prevent them from driving drunk. While they were driving, Hernandez

shot Coldfelter twice in the back of the head. Hernandez had a long criminal history that included convictions for possession of

methamphetamine, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, manufacturing and delivering cocaine, attempted burglary, and being a

felon in possession of a firearm.5

-2-

SHOOTER LIKELY PROHIBITED: 5 OFFICERS KILLED

MAY 22, 1980 | KNAPPA

Michael Sture, 23, shot and killed Sergeant

James Shepherd of the Oregon State Police

with a rifle. Shepherd was investigating

reports of a marijuana grow operation when

Sture shot him twice as Shepherd approached

his hideout. Sture fled the area but was later

captured while attempting to hitchhike in

Eastern Oregon. At the time of the shooting,

Sture was out on parole after having been

sentenced to five years in prison for

unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a crime

that prohibited him from possessing firearms.6

-3-

NOVEMBER 4, 2013 | OREGON CITY

Lawrence Cambra, 88, shot and killed Officer Robert Libke of the Oregon City Police Department with a revolver. Libke had

confronted Cambra outside Cambra’s burning home, which police believe Cambra intentionally set on fire. Cambra then shot and

killed himself with the same weapon. Though Cambra’s girlfriend had filed a restraining order against him that prohibited firearm

possession a year prior to the shooting, she dismissed the order two weeks later. Cambra had no other prohibiting criminal history.7

APRIL 22, 2011 | EUGENE

Cheryl Kidd, 56, shot and killed Officer Chris Kilcullen of the Eugene Police Department as he attempted to pull over Kidd for

speeding and reckless driving. Kidd fired a single shot from a .38-caliber handgun, hitting the officer in the chest. Although Kidd

was a diagnosed schizophrenic, she was never adjudicated mentally defective before a judge and therefore not prohibited from

possessing guns. Following the shooting, a Lane County Circuit judge declared Kidd mentally unfit to stand trial and committed her

to a state mental hospital.8

DECEMBER 17, 1984 | BROOKINGS

Nathan Klinefelter, 58, shot and killed Curry County Deputy Sheriff David Eugene Foster as Foster was investigating a report of a

domestic disturbance at Klinefelter’s home. As the officer was walking towards Klinefelter’s trailer, Klinefelter shot Foster once in the

chest with a high-powered rifle. Though Klinefelter admitted to punching his wife multiple times the morning of the shooting, he

lacked a criminal history prohibiting him from possessing firearms.9

MARCH 6, 1982 | GRANITE

Adeline Hollemon, 65, shot and killed Deputy Sheriff Edward A. “Bud” Morrow of the Grant County Sheriff’s Department with a

hunting rifle. Morrow was also the Mayor of the small town. Hollemon had previously fought with Morrow and arranged to ambush

him at a remote cabin. Though she was twice declared mentally unfit for trial, Hollemon was eventually convicted of murder and

sentenced to life in prison. She had no reported prohibiting criminal history.10

SHOOTER LIKELY PROHIBITED: 5 OFFICERS KILLED (CONTINUED)

NO EVIDENCE SHOOTER PROHIBITED: 4 OFFICERS KILLED

EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND is an independent, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization working to improve understanding

of the causes of gun violence and the means to reduce it by conducting groundbreaking original research, developing evidence-based

solutions, and communicating these recommendations to advocates, lawmakers, and the public. Every day 88 Americans are killed

with guns, but research shows that common-sense public safety laws can reduce gun violence and save lives.

NOTES

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1. Everytown for Gun Safety, State Background Check Requirements and Rates of Firearm Homicide Against Law Enforcement, January 2015, available at http://every.tw/1Aj9CVz.

2. Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon, “Taylor v. Lane County,” Justia, last modified July 5, 2007, http://bit.ly/1EqKUJJ.

3. David R. Anderson, “Friend: Dons Thought Police Were Would-Be Killers Shooting,” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), February 6, 1998

4. Laura Trujillo, “Grand Jury Gets Evidence in Slaying of Police Officer,” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), July 30, 1997.

5. “Fallen Trooper Bret R. Clodfelter,” Oregon State Police Memorial, accessed January 29, 2015, http://bit.ly/1A3Zxks.

6. Lori Tobias, “Parole Board to Review Life Sentence of Man Who Killed Oregon State Police Sergeant,” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), November 24, 2009, http://bit.ly/1zeqm4f.

7. “Medical Examiner: Oregon City Gunman Committed Suicide,” Fox 12 Oregon, November 5, 2013, http://bit.ly/1v5UpeC.

8. Aimee Green, “Wife of Eugene Police Officer Who Was Shot to Death Files $5.75 Million Lawsuit,” The Oregonian, April 18, 2013, http://bit.ly/1AbLswj.

9. State of Oregon v. Nathan Ira Klinefelter, No. F84-12-201, (Curry County District Court) April 23, 1987.

10. “Adeline Hollemon Sentenced to Life in Prison for Mayor’s Murder,” Associated Press (Bend, OR), December 29, 1986, http://bit.ly/1KdBCzh.