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A man was shot and killed by Portland State University police on Friday while trying to break up a fight outside a sports bar, Oregon Live reported.
Jason Washington, 45, was a U.S. postal worker who had served in the Navy. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a granddaughter.
Washington had been celebrating with his friends at the Cheerful Tortoise when he tried to intervene in a fight between two men after one called the other a racial slur. An employee at the bar called campus police when the fight escalated. While Washington was attempting to break up the fight, a holstered handgun he was carrying fell to the ground. He had a concealed-carry permit for the gun and was shot while attempting to pick it back up.
Shawn McKenzie and James Dewey, the two Portland State officers involved in the shooting, have both been put on administrative leave. They have been officers at Portland State since 2016. The university’s Board of Trustees voted to arm campus police in 2014 despite student opposition.
