Prosecutor finds state police shooting during chase of Amber Alert suspect on I-5 was in self-defense

Oregon State Police Superintendent Casey Codding and a state police sergeant were “legally justified” in shooting a murder suspect who fled with a small child in a car during a chase on Interstate 5 in late April, the Linn County district attorney found.

District Attorney Doug Marteeny said Codding and Sgt. Nickodemus “Orly” Johnson were fired “multiple shots” after the suspect, Elias Huizar, pointed a handgun from the open driver’s window at the front of Johnson’s marked police car and shot the sergeant.

Codding and Johnson fired back in self-defense and to defend others, Marteeny wrote. The shots were fired after Codding and Johnson attempted to “pin down and stop” Huizar’s 2009 Toyota Corolla, which they had been pursuing south on the highway.

Marteeny did not say in his two-page letter whether Johnson or Codding were in or outside their vehicles when they shot Huizar, how many shots they fired or whether April 23 The shooting occurred on the median, shoulder or lane of the highway.

“Mr. Huizar drove in a manner that endangered innocent motorists as well as his passenger,” the district attorney wrote. “He fired a handgun at close range in the direction of Sergeant Johnson. He posed an immediate and immediate threat to his life.”

But Marteeny called the evidence “overwhelming” and thanked the police officers “for a job well done” and for their “professionalism and bravery.”

The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained the memo Monday through a public records request.

Huizar, a former Yakima police officer, was wanted for the murders of two women — his ex-wife and the 17-year-old mother of his 1-year-old son — in West Richland, Washington. Police had issued an Amber alert when Huizar left with the boy. Huizar later committed suicide further south on I-5 as police closed in.

In Linn County, after the state police sergeant and Codding attempted to corral Huizar’s car, “Huizar pointed his weapon at the front of Sergeant Johnson’s car and fired at Sergeant Johnson,” Marteeny wrote in a brief description of the shooting. “The muzzle of the weapon flashed and a popping or banging sound was heard.”

Johnson and Codding immediately drew their guns and fired several shots at Huizar, the district attorney wrote.

Marteeny concluded that “both Sergeant Johnson and Superintendent Codding made a concerted effort to ensure that the angle, timing, proximity and coverage of their lethal force were chosen to ensure the safety of any child potentially riding in the car as well as the public traveling on I-5.”

The letter did not describe the efforts the two made. Huizar’s son was sitting in the back seat of the Corolla, which had tinted windows.

The district attorney described the shootings as “sudden and in rapid succession” as part of an “extremely dynamic event.”

“A lengthy review of the facts will not help, but a brief overview seems appropriate,” Marteeny wrote.

At least one bullet hit Huizar’s car, but Codding and Johnson missed “Huizar,” Marteeny noted. “Huizar continued to race south at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.”

Huizar was driving toward a traffic jam near Eugene, and as he tried to pass the slow-moving cars by driving onto the dirt shoulder of the highway, he struck the back of a stationary semi-truck, according to Marteeny. His Corolla careened into the median and came to a stop.

The truck’s driver told police he saw Huizar point a gun at his own head and shoot, killing himself, as officers gathered around the Corolla and got out of their cars at the end of the roughly 25-mile chase, the letter said.

Other officers arriving on the scene rescued the 1-year-old boy, who was strapped into a car seat in the back seat and was uninjured, state police said.

The chase had begun around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, when Johnson and another officer, Scott Show, stood in their respective marked police cars on the side of I-5 and saw Huizar’s silver car heading south.

The two caught up with the Corolla, checked its license plate and tried to stop it. Instead, Huizar accelerated, Marteeny wrote.

“Supt. Codding, who was nearby, joined the pursuit,” he wrote.

The Oregonian/OregonLive had previously reported that Codding was “looking for” Huizar’s car and had ordered all agency employees to “drop everything” to help in the search.

He was driving south on the highway in an unmarked SUV when he heard over his police radio that the Amber Alert suspect pursuit had begun, state police Capt. Kyle Kennedy told the news organization.

According to the district attorney’s memo, Huizar’s car was “slowed down to the point” that Show initially used his car to “steer Huizar’s car around,” causing Huizar’s car to end up on the westbound shoulder of the highway. However, Huizar was able to steer his car back into the southbound lanes and accelerated again to get away, the letter states.

This time, Johnson hit Huizar’s car, “which was turning toward the side street,” wrote the district attorney.

“As his vehicle came around, Sergeant Johnson and Superintendent Codding attempted to apprehend and stop it,” the letter states.

As Huizar’s car “passed in front of Johnson’s car,” Huizar was seen pointing a gun out the open driver’s window, Marteeny wrote.

Kennedy had previously said he did not know whether state police rammed Huizar’s car or used a pursuit maneuver technique known as a PIT maneuver to stop Huizar, in which an officer pursuing a car rams into a rear corner of the fleeing car to cause it to spin out and stop.

Marteeny investigated the shooting because it occurred in Linn County.

The last accident and the suspect’s self-gun wound occurred in Lane County.

Codding was wearing a body camera and it was activated, but his police SUV does not have a dashboard camera, Kennedy said.

Codding was given a week of paid administrative leave before returning to work. Johnson returned to work on May 7.

Public records requests related to the Linn and Lane County sheriffs’ investigations into the shooting and state police chase are still pending.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal courts and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow her on X @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

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