The Bend teenager who died amid police gunfire on the Bend Parkway last month, fatally shot himself first, which prompted a responding officer to simultaneously shoot the teen, according to a 12-page report from the Deschutes County District Attorney.

District Attorney Steve Gunnels concluded Bend Police Officer Wesley Murphy was justified in using deadly force against Gabriel Keith Platz, 18, based on body-worn camera footage, eyewitness testimony, autopsy findings and statements from Murphy and a second Bend Police officer, Cody Lyter, who never fired his gun.

It was Platz’s own shot that caused his death, Gunnels concluded.

“Hindsight allows us to recognize that Mr. Platz acted with an intent to end his own life,” Gunnels wrote in the report, “but the officers who were charged with protecting the public at that moment did not have the benefit of hindsight. They had a duty to act within seconds to the threat that they reasonably perceived and they did so. They did not have the ability to wait and see what would happen.”

What happened?

Three people on the parkway called 911 between 8:17 p.m. and 8:21 p.m. March 20 to report a red Lincoln Town Car speeding over 90 mph and crashing in the northbound lanes.

One caller was with Platz. He said he smelled of alcohol and had taken Platz’s keys, the report said.

Lyter arrived at 8:24 p.m. He spoke with drivers involved and witnesses before approaching the driver’s side of the Lincoln Town Car. Murphy, just arriving, went to the passenger side where he spoke with a witness, according to body-worn camera footage obtained by The Bulletin.

Platz, alone, had his hands above the steering wheel “in a surrender pose” when Lyter approached, the report said.

Platz told Lyter he was speeding, that he had lost control of his car and crashed, according to a transcription of body-worn camera footage.

When Lyter asked Platz for his license, Platz felt his pockets and around his seat then reached for the floor of the driver’s side with his left hand. That’s when Lyter spotted a .45-caliber handgun on the driver’s side floorboard.

“And is that a real gun?” Lyter said.

“Uh. Yeah,” Platz said.

“Don’t reach for that,” Lyter said.

“Sorry,” Platz said.

Platz’s hands quickly returned above his shoulders away from the handgun. Lyter asked Platz to get out of the car, but the driver’s door was stuck because of the crash, so Lyter told the teen to crawl out of the passenger door.

But halfway to the passenger door, Platz reached for the gun with his left hand. This time, he grabbed it. At this point, Murphy moved toward the car and drew his weapon, according to body-worn camera footage.

“Don’t reach for that! Hey! Let me see it!” Lyter shouted, reaching into the car, the report said.

Platz switched the gun to his right hand and racked the slide of the gun, loading a round in the firing chamber.

With his right hand, Lyter grabbed the top of Platz’s left hand, shouting “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!”

Murphy, outside the passenger window, shouted “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!”

But Platz gained control of the handgun with his right hand. Within four seconds of picking it up, Platz shot himself in the temple, the report said. Murphy fired two rounds.

The whole encounter lasted about a minute and a half.

Lyter’s hand was still holding Platz’s as the teen shot himself, the report said. Lyter drew his own gun after Murphy’s gunfire had stopped while backing away from the car, but he never fired.

Murphy’s first shot to Platz’s right thigh was “virtually simultaneous” to Platz’s own shot, the report said. Murphy’s second shot came a fraction of a second after the first, hitting Platz in the chest, which would have killed him.

Justified deadly force

Both officers later said they believed Platz was about to shoot them and neither realized that Platz had shot himself, the report said.

“Officer Murphy would have been legally justified in shooting Mr. Platz from the time it became clear Mr. Platz had grabbed the gun from the floorboard of the vehicle after having been told multiple times not to do so,” Gunnels wrote.

He said both officers acted “admirably and according to their training.”

Lyter would have been justified in shooting Platz due to his repeated warnings to avoid the gun, Gunnels said in the report. Instead, Lyter attempted to take the gun away.

“That act required a great deal of courage and it is extraordinarily fortunate that Officer Lyter was not struck by any of the three rounds fired during this incident,” Gunnels wrote.

Oregon’s self defense law applies equally to law enforcement officers and the public, Gunnels said in his report. The use of deadly force is allowed in situations when a person is reasonably believed to be committing, or trying to commit a felony and using or threatening physical force or if someone is about to use deadly force against a person.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation, as is customary when a law enforcement agency uses deadly force.

The Oregon State Police Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on March 21 and concluded Platz’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and chest, the report said. However, based on those autopsy results, Gunnels decided that Platz died from the self-inflicted shot to the head.

“These events represent a tragedy for those affected by them, including Gabriel Platz and his family,” Gunnels wrote. “The involved officers carry the emotional burden of these events, as well, as do eyewitnesses.”

A GoFundMe for Platz was organized by his family following his death to cover burial and memorial costs. Nearly $17,000 has been raised from roughly 180 donations.

“We are absolutely devastated by the loss of our beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend,” a family member wrote in the memorial fund description. “The only thing we can do now is be here for each other and try to begin healing our shattered hearts.”

Platz graduated from Summit High School in 2023, Bend-La Pine Schools spokesperson Scott Maben previously told The Bulletin.

He has no criminal record in Oregon. The gun Platz used was registered to someone in Dallas, Oregon who purchased it in August 2023, Gunnels told The Bulletin. That person doesn’t have an obvious connection to Platz, but how Platz came to possess the handgun is being investigated, he said.

The Bend Police officers

Murphy has worked with the Bend Police Department since 2008. He worked his way up to becoming a sergeant in 2019 before choosing to demote himself in December 2023, according to records from the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. He made more than $137,000 in fiscal year 2023, according to The Bulletin’s database of public employee salaries.

In 2022, Murphy had 11 hours of his paid time off docked as a result of violating police department policy. He failed to report an allegation of lies from a subordinate, a disciplinary document filed with the department said.

Lyter has worked as a Bend Police officer since 2019. He previously worked as a sheriff’s deputy out of state from 2016 until his hiring in Bend. He made nearly $113,000 last year, according to the database.

“This is an unpredictable career,” Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told The Bulletin.

Officers believed they were responding to a crash, he said. He agreed the two officers acted according to their training, which focuses on reducing instances of use of force, while faced with a split-second decision.

In a statement, Krantz said the department will “conduct an administrative review, which aims to assess whether officers adhered to department policies and procedures during the incident.”

Krantz also noted that officers face split second, life-and-death decisions.

“While much of our Department’s training focuses on reducing officers’ reliance on force, our officers know that they will sometimes be faced with circumstances out of their control,” Krantz said. “As a learning agency, we will use the review to determine if departmentwide training or new equipment could make these instances even more rare.”

This is at least the sixth fatal incident involving law enforcement in Deschutes County since August 2016.

“This isn’t normal, which is a really good thing for our community,” Krantz said.

Need help?

Deschutes County 24-Hour Crisis Line: A 24-hour program that responds by phone or face-to-face.

541-322-7500 ext. #9

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: The lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.

Call 9-8-8

Text 9-8-8

Visit 988lifeline.org to message.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: A national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the United States.

Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255); Text “273Talk” to 839863

For Veterans press #1

Ayuda en español llame 1-888-628-9454 o texto “MIL1” a 839863.

For Hearing and speech impaired call 1-800-799-4TTY (4889)

Oregon YouthLine: YouthLine is a free, confidential teen-to-teen crisis and help line. It can be reached via phone at 877-968-8491 or text “teen2teen” to 83983.