Andrew Hanlon 'shot seven times' by US police
Relatives of an Irishman killed by police in the US state of Oregon viewed the body and said he was shot at least seven times.
Andrew James Hanlon’s brother-in-law said the 20-year-old had two gunshot wounds to his left arm, three wounds to his abdomen, one on his thigh and one in the back of his shoulder.
“It was definitely not grouped in one area,” Nathan Heise told the Statesman Journal.
Viewing the body “offered some closure to the ongoing grieving process, but it was definitely very upsetting to both of us,” said Mr Heise, who is married to Mr Hanlon’s sister Melanie.
News of the shooting in this quiet agricultural town in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley spread quickly in Ireland, where Mr Hanlon’s mother went on the radio yesterday and accused police and prosecutors of holding back information.
“We’re not getting any answers because they’re closing ranks on us,” Dorothea Carroll said in an interview Thursday with RTE Radio One’s Liveline in Dublin.
“As his mam, I’m being kept out of the loop. Nobody’s telling me anything.”
Mr Heise said Ms Carroll is expected to travel to Oregon within the next few days.
“No mother and no family expects to lose a 20-year-old son,” she said. “Nobody expects that. And to lose a son is one thing,” Ms Carroll continued, her voice breaking, “but to lose a child, literally to be blasted away, to be shot to death, I mean my God, it’s a violent end. It’s a violent end.”
Mr Hanlon was shot and killed late Monday evening by Officer Tony Gonzalez, who was responding to a reported burglary in progress.
Mr Heise said Mr Hanlon would come banging on their door at times in the middle of the night, and they would let him in to sleep.
The Heises speculated that Mr Hanlon took a wrong turn Monday night and started banging on doors on a different street, scaring residents.
Someone called police, reporting a burglary, and one or more officers confronted Mr Hanlon, Mr Heise said.
Mr Gonzalez is on administrative leave during the multi-agency investigation, which is routine.
Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau said no information will be released until the investigation is complete.
However, he added that he has been in touch with the Irish Consulate and is willing to meet Mr Hanlon’s family to explain the investigative process.
Ms Carroll said she had e-mailed the Silverton Police Department and the Marion County District Attorney’s office, but did not get a reply.
“Nobody will speak to me and tell me anything,” she said on the radio programme.
About 70 people protested at the Silverton Police Department on Wednesday.
Ms Carroll, who lives in France, was in Ireland visiting her other son when she received word of Mr Hanlon’s death.
Mr Hanlon had been living with his mother in France and attending art school when he went to visit his sister in Silverton a year ago.
Ms Carroll said her only officials contact from Silverton came from Mayor Ken Hector, who knew Mr Hanlon and was very distressed.
Mr Hanlon had been in Silverton for about a year and had overstayed his six months visitor’s visa.
