A sheriff’s deputy in Washington County, Oregon, who was shot in 2023 by a tenant he was attempting to evict from The Timbers at Tualatin in Tualatin, Oregon, is now suing the property’s owner and operator, as well as a member of its staff. 

The plaintiff claims that the property’s stakeholders failed to warn police of the danger the tenant might pose before they confronted him, according to a complaint filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court last month. The case’s defendants include:

• Palo Alto, California-based Pacific Urban Investors, owners of the property through Forest Rim Tualatin LLC, Forest Rim Investors LP and Pacific Urban Investors LLC.
• Folsom, California-based property manager FPI Management.
• Portland-based real estate services provider Cushman & Wakefield of Oregon Inc. and its affiliate company, Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield U.S. 
• Nicole Mutziger, community director at The Timbers at Tualatin at the time of the incident. 

The tenant, a 34-year-old man, had been uncommunicative and uncooperative with property staff since at least April 2023, failing to pay rent or respond to any inquiries, according to court documents. He had completely covered the windows in his unit, and other tenants reported hearing him screaming in the middle of the night.

When property staff attempted to enter the unit, they found the door barricaded. On July 26, 2023, when the police arrived to remove the tenant, property staff advised the deputies that the door would need to be broken down. When the door was breached, the tenant opened fire, striking the plaintiff several times in the head, face, arms and torso. The tenant was later found dead in the unit, according to Oregon Live. 

The plaintiff’s injuries led to the permanent loss of vision in his left eye, Oregon Live reported. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff’s injuries and disabilities are a direct result of the defendants’ actions.

“On information and belief, defendants, by and through their agents, employees or representatives, should have reasonably suspected that [the tenant] might pose a danger to himself or others,” the complaint reads. “Defendants had a duty to warn [the] plaintiff and his fellow officers of that reasonable suspicion and failed to do so.”

Alleged negligence on the defendants’ part included failing to de-escalate the conflict with the tenant, failing to prohibit or enforce safety conditions on tenants’ possession of firearms and not advising officers on the full facts of the case. Pacific Urban Investors declined to comment on the case, and FPI Management and Cushman & Wakefield did not respond to a request for comment from Multifamily Dive. 

The deputy is now seeking $20 million in damages for his injuries, plus $3 million for a loss of income and benefits, as well as medical expenses.