Beaverton police have publicly identified the officers involved in Tuesday’s fatal police shooting of an armed man on the roof of a home.
Douglas Michael Smith is pictured in an archive Washington County Sheriff’s Office booking photo.WCSO
Officers Jason Buelt and Dan Cotton fired their weapons. Douglas Michael Smith, 51, died at the scene.
Officer Mike Rowe, a Beaverton police spokesman, said Smith was pointing a gun at people inside other homes and at the street Tuesday morning. Officers arrived at the house, which is on Southwest 170th Avenue near Merlo Road, and Smith refused to talk with them.
He pointed his gun toward the officers and fired a single shot into the house. Buelt and Cotton fired to stop the threat, Rowe said.
Buelt and Cotton have worked for the department for 17 and nine years, respectively, Rowe said. They were both placed on administrative leave, as is standard after officer-involved shootings.
Cotton was one of three Beaverton officers justified in fatally shooting a man who fired a shotgun at police in 2015. The man demanded police kill him; fired at an officer, wounding him; and fired twice more at Cotton before Cotton and two other officers returned fire, a prosecutor wrote in a letter to the police chief that year.
Buelt was awarded a lifesaving medal the same year for performing CPR on a man who passed out and crashed while biking in southern Washington County.
Rowe released no additional information about Tuesday’s shooting or the ensuing investigation.
— Jim Ryan
jryan@oregonian.com
503-221-8005; @Jimryan015
Samantha Matsumoto and Tony Hernandez of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report
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