An angry driver shot and killed another angry driver in Portland on Wednesday and then shot another man who began recording the incident on his cell phone.
An affidavit says that Geoffrey Edward Hammond was partially blocking an intersection in the Oregon city Wednesday afternoon when another driver, Ryan Martin, pulled up behind him, KOIN reported. The two men flipped each other off, and Martin swerved around Hammond’s car, stopping on the other side of the intersection.
He got out of his car and walked back to confront Hammond — who loaded a gun and shot Martin in the chest when he got to his car. “I’m sorry, I had a bad day,” Martin told Hammond as he tried to shoot him again, but his gun malfunctioned.
Witnesses told police they heard Hammond tell Martin he was “lucky I didn’t shoot you in the heart,” but Hammond later told detectives he likely said, “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you in the head.”
Martin, 47, wasn’t so lucky, though, and died on the concrete.
Meanwhile, Sam Gomez came out of the Moxy Hotel on the intersection and began recording the incident. Hammond fired at Gomez, who tried to run. The bullet went through one of his legs and lodged in the other. He is still hospitalized after surgery.
Hammond drove away from the incident, calling 911 as he left. The affidavit says that he admitted shooting both men while on the call. He drove to the top floor of a parking garage by the courthouse, where he surrendered to police.
While being interviewed by police, Hammond said he knew Martin wasn’t armed and that he planned to shoot him a second time but couldn’t when his gun jammed.
He said he shot Gomez because he thought he recognized him executing a military tactic and believed Gomez was going to ambush him.
Neither Martin nor Gomez were armed.
According to Law&Crime, Hammond was charged with second degree murder, attempted second degree murder, assault with a firearm, and two counts of unlawful use of a firearm.
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[Featured image: Ryan Martin/Portland Police Bureau and Geoffrey Hammond/KOIN]
