The Lane County district attorney has found that a Lane County Sheriff’s deputy acted within the scope of the law when the deputy fatally shot a man in April.
Deputies arrived at Verlin Vanhoy’s home in response to a 911 call from his daughter, who said he needed to be transported to the hospital. According to reporting by KEZI News, the daughter told 911 dispatchers that her father was suicidal.
According to Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow, Vanhoy picked up what looked like a black hand gun when responding to deputies arriving at his door. He was reportedly drunk and would not listen to commands to drop his weapon.
Despite Vanhoy’s daughter shouting that it was not a real gun, one of the responding deputies shot and killed Vanhoy.
According to the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found out after the shooting that the man had been holding a pellet gun.
An after-action report of the investigation into the shooting will be conducted by the Inter-Agency Deadly Force Investigation Team.