Good Afternoon,
Linn County District Attorney Doug Marteeny and I, along with the Oregon State Police, held a press conference this morning regarding our recent shooting. The District Attorney did a great job explaining the facts surrounding the shooting, and was very clear in his decision that Deputy Ryan Keys and Deputy Colin Pyle were totally justified in their use of force, and the criminal case against the suspect is moving forward.
Listed below are my comments that I shared with the media:
Unfortunately, streets are not getting any safer as we see far too often the assault and killing of police officers and deputy sheriffs. What happened here is a sobering reminder that it can happen anywhere, anytime. Ryan and Colin are both excellent Deputies who showed great courage and bravery standing tall in the face of danger.
I am extremely proud of them both and their selfless dedication to the safety of our community. I believe their training along with sound judgement allowed them to go home safely that night to their families. I would be remiss if I didn’t share that I also believe an act of providence guided and protected these men during this incident.
The citizens of Linn County should be very proud and appreciative of their deputies who daily go about keeping Linn County a safe place to live and raise their families.
Everyday across our nation normal men and women put the uniform on with the sole purpose of making their communities safe. Next time you see one or have an interaction with one, take a moment to thank them for the difficult job they do.
The next step I am working on is getting Deputy Keys and Deputy Pyle back to work. We hope that will happen in the next week or so. I want to thank everyone again for rallying behind Ryan and Colin. These are always tough times for the Sheriff’s Office, but at the same time an incident of this magnitude makes us stronger as an Office, of brothers and sisters in law enforcement, and as a community overall.