Trial over whether 2006 police shooting was justified

It has been nearly six years since 18-year-old Lukus Glenn was shot to death outside his Metzger home.

Now Glenn’s family is getting its day in court. A jury will decide whether Glenn’s death was justified.

Glenn was shot eight times by Washington County sheriff’s deputies outside his home in Metzger on Sept. 16, 2006.

The family sued the county, the city of Tigard and the deputies involved for more than $7 million in 2008. That lawsuit was later thrown out, then appealed.

Last November, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit — which claimed the sheriff’s deputies violated his civil rights when they shot him — and ruled there was enough evidence from both sides that the case should be decided by a jury.

“Even if the jury determines that the use of ‘less-lethal’ force was justifiable, however, the question still remains whether escalating so quickly to deadly force was warranted,” the court of appeals wrote in the 2011 opinion.

The case begins Tuesday in the U.S. District Courthouse in Portland.

Attorneys from both sides declined to comment for this story.

“We believe the appropriate place for comment is in the courtroom,” said William Blair, an attorney representing the county. “Let the jury decide and not let this be decided by the media.”

Glenn’s mother, Hope Glenn, did not return phone calls for comment on this story, but told The Times after the appeal that the trial was something they have been waiting for since their son’s death.

“After we’ve been fighting for Lukus for so long, we are grateful to finally get the chance to defend him in a jury (trial),” she said. “It is really emotional for us. This is something we think about every day, and it never goes away and it never gets any easier.”

What happened?

The night of the shooting, Glenn was drunk, suicidal and armed with a pocketknife when sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call at Glenn’s parents’ home.

Glenn had reportedly arrived home drunk and flew into a rage when his parents refused to give him the keys to his motorcycle.

Two sheriffs deputies and a Tigard police officer arrived on the scene to find Glenn in the driveway after he had smashed the windows of his family’s vehicles with his fists and a shovel, busted open the home’s front door and was holding a 3-inch pocketknife to his own throat, threatening to kill himself.

More than once, deputies warned Glenn he would be shot if he did not put the knife down.

Recordings of Hope Glenn’s conversation with a 911 dispatcher that night show Glenn was suicidal and wanted police to shoot him.

“You kill me, or I kill me,” Glenn yelled at officers.

“He’s saying he kills himself, or they kill him,” his mother told the dispatcher. “He just wants to die tonight.”

Deputies said Glenn began to move toward the house, where his family was, while being shot with beanbag rounds.

Before the last beanbag round was fired, deputies opened fire.

Glenn was struck eight times in the back and bled to death on his porch before paramedics arrived.

Deputies said they feared for Glenn’s family members, who were inside the home.

A toxicology report later revealed Glenn had a blood alcohol level of 0.18 at the time of his death.

Glenn’s mother told The Times last year that a trial would bring some closure to Glenn’s family and friends.

“Now we feel that the truth will be able to come out, and we can get some justice,” she said. “Lukus should be here. There is no reason why he shouldn’t be here. This is what we’ve been fighting for.”

The trial begins Tuesday before Judge Michael W. Mosman at the U.S. District Courthouse in Portland, 1000 S.W. Third Ave.