PORTLAND, Ore. — A former Portland police officer who seriously wounded a man after mistakenly loading lethal rounds into a beanbag shotgun has killed himself, authorities said Tuesday.
A train struck 43-year-old Dane Reister Monday morning in Washougal, Washington, and his body was found beside the tracks, police said.
The medical examiner ruled it a suicide. Police said they found no note or indication that Reister’s death was related to the wounding of William Kyle Monroe in June 2011.
The city of Portland paid $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit Monroe filed. He nearly bled to death, and his lawyer said there would likely be permanent nerve damage.
Reister pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that were still pending at the time of his death.
At the time of the shooting, Monroe was 20 and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Police had gotten a report he was acting oddly at a park and had a knife, according to investigative documents.
Reister said he saw a knife and Monroe ran. Reister fired four times, hitting Monroe in the thigh and abdomen, investigators said.
According to police documents, Reister told investigators he couldn’t remember how he came to load buckshot into the 12-gauge shotgun, which had bright orange markings to specify it was to be used only with beanbags. He was fired in 2013 by Police Chief Mike Reese, who has since retired.
The shooting came amid a number of police encounters with people in mental health crises. The U.S. Justice Department concluded the Police Bureau had a pattern of excessive use of force. In a settlement, the city agreed to reforms, such as creating a crisis intervention team.
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