Michael Forest Reinoehl, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a right-wing supporter in Portland, was shot and killed by a U.S. Marshals task force as they tried to apprehend him in Lacey, Washington State, on Thursday evening.
Reinoehl, 48, was identified as the man who killed "Patriot Prayer" member Aaron "Jay" Danielson in downtown Portland during a pro-Trump rally on Aug. 29. Video footage of the fatal shooting shot by bystanders from multiple angles showed a man resembling Reinoehl having the same neck tattoo firing two shots at Danielson before walking away.
A day before he was killed by federal agents, Reinoehl admitted to Vice News in an interview that he killed someone and that he acted in self-defense after he and a friend were threatened with a knife. However, stills of CCTV footage released in new unsealed documents seem to be unraveling a different story.
Reinoehl Hid in Garage, Ambushed Danielson
The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office released newly unsealed court documents on Friday, including the second-degree arrest affidavit against Reinoehl, revealing the details of the deadly encounter between him and Danielson.
According to the affidavit, which includes images obtained from surveillance cameras outside a garage near the scene of the shooting, Reinoehl hid himself in an alcove of the garage waiting for Danielson, and a friend, Chandler Pappas, waiting for them to walk past him.
Homicide Detective Rico Beniga notes that Reinoehl "conceals himself, waits and watches" as Danielson and Pappas pass him. According to the document, as soon as they walk by, Reinoehl reaches out for his pocket or pouch on his waistband and emerges out of the garage before following them. The shooting takes places shortly thereafter and was not captured on camera.
Reinoehl then fired two shots at Danielson, one hitting the bear can spray he was carrying and another striking him, fatally. A witness told police detective Danielson sprayed the can of mace before the shots were fired and that there was a verbal altercation with "black males," one of whom was heard saying "We're going to f**king kill you," before Danielson used the spray and the shots rang out.
Justin Dunlap, who captured the shooting on his livestream video, said he heard one of two subjects who approached Danielson say something similar to "You wanna go" before Danielson fired the spray bottle.
