Jim Ryan
The Oregonian
KLAMATH COUNTY — The Oregon State Police on Wednesday released dramatic footage of a pursuit and shootout that left a trooper hurt last month in Klamath County.
The April 10 footage shows authorities chasing a driver, who eventually gets out of his car and opens fire on law enforcement officers. Bullets hit a trooper’s patrol car, and the trooper can be seen returning fire.
The footage later shows a law enforcement officer carrying a young child away from the man’s car. The child, 6, was not physically hurt.
https://www.facebook.com/263127847399874/videos/2639617919657113/
The incident unfolded after Klamath County sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported domestic disturbance. An initial report indicated an intoxicated man was trying to take his children, according to county District Attorney Eve Costello.
Costello said the man had left by the time deputies arrived, but authorities tried to track him down.
A state police trooper spotted the man’s car a short while later and started pursuing him, Costello said. The state police and local sheriff’s office chased him, Costello said, and deputies deployed a spike strip on U.S. 97.
The driver was brought to a stop on Wocus Road. He got out of his car and started firing shots at law enforcement officers, who returned fire, Costello said.
Trooper Kameron Gordon was injured. The man, identified as Matthew Brennon Goff, died at the scene.
Goff fired at least 36 rounds into three occupied law enforcement vehicles, according to a letter from a grand jury. He had an AR-15-style gun, 10 fully loaded magazines and over 250 rounds of ammunition.
The grand jury ruled the deadly force used by a trooper and deputy was justified.
“I don’t think I’m alone when I admit my heart skipped a beat when I first viewed this video,” Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton said in a statement. “I credit the professionalism and remarkable bravery of the Oregon State Police Troopers and Klamath County Deputy Sheriffs that brought this violent event to end.”