PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland State University has agreed to pay $1,000,000 to the family of a man shot and killed in 2018 by university police officers.
Under the terms of the settlement, announced Tuesday in a joint statement from PSU and Jason Washington’s family, the family agreed not to go forward with a lawsuit against the university. A portion of the settlement will be used to establish the Jason Washington Memorial Scholarship.
The university will also require its officers to complete additional training, according to the joint statement.
Two officers shot and killed 45-year-old Washington on June 29, 2018, outside the Cheerful Tortoise in Portland.
Police body camera footage showed a chaotic scene as Washington tried to break up a fight outside the bar.
Washington, who had a concealed weapon permit, was holding a friend’s gun that he had confiscated earlier in the evening. At one point, he lost his balance and fell — causing his gun to fall out of its holster, according to some witnesses. When Washington went to pick up the gun, officers told him to drop the weapon. Within three seconds, the officers opened fire.
Records show both officers fired their weapons, with 17 bullet casings found at the scene indicating that 17 shots were fired. The medical examiner’s report shows that nine of those shots hit Washington.
A Multnomah County grand jury later found no criminal wrongdoing by the officers.
The incident bolstered students’ calls for campus officers to be disarmed. In October, university officials decided that campus officers would continue carrying guns. However, the university did say there would be more oversight and training.