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EPD Officers Fatally Wound Man Armed With Rifle

Still from EPD video.
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Eugene Police Department

UPDATE:  The man killed in Tuesday's confrontation with Eugene Police has been identified as 31 year old Roger Craig Nielsen, of Lane County.  An EPD spokeswoman says the two involved officers’ names are being withheld pending investigative interviews.

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An early morning confrontation today between Eugene Police and an armed man ended with officers using deadly force.  

Police were called to an apartment complex, where the man had taken a woman and her child hostage with a rifle.  After the woman and a friend pushed the man outside, he reportedly told her that he wanted to die in a police shooting.

Eugene Police Chief Pete Kerns says when officers arrived, they found the armed man in another apartment.   

“Officers called him out, asked him to come out without the rifle and with his hands up," says Chief Kerns.  "Instead, he came out with the rifle, our understanding is that he pointed or aimed the rifle at the officers who were calling to him.  What we know next is that officers responded with deadly force.  And the suspect was knocked down.” 

Kerns says officers gave emergency medical care to the wounded man.  He was transported to the hospital where he died.  The case will be reviewed by the Lane County Deadly Force Investigations Team.

Meanwhile, the two involved police officers are on administrative leave.  

Copyright 2017, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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