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Minister expresses concern at Hanlon’s death in Oregon

February 17, 2011

By Staff Reporter

He was apparently shot after banging on doors on a street close to his sister’s home in the town of Silverton.
His family said Hanlon, who reportedly had some psychological problems, may have been in a distressed state and have gotten lost while trying to make his way to his sister’s home.
A anonymous woman who said she is related to the person who made the initial call to police has passed an audio recording to Hanlon’s sister and brother-in-law, Melanie and Nathan Heise.
In the recording she claims that the young man was running barefoot, had stumbled and was attempting to get up when he was shot up to seven times by the police officer.
“We’re not passing it on to a lawyer — we’re thinking now that maybe we need to pass it on to the DA,” Nathan Heise said. “It might not be evidence, but then again it might be. We’re not sure so we’re going to give it to the DA.”
Heise, who identified his brother-in-law’s body, said he appeared to have been struck seven times.
The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Miche_l Martin expressed his condolences to Andrew Hanlon’s family. Martin said that the consul general in San Francisco was told of the shooting on July 1 by Melanie Heise.
“The consul general has emphasized the government’s interest and deep concern about the case in her contacts with the District Attorney and the Chief of Police of Silverton, ” said a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson. “The minister has asked to be kept fully informed of developments.
“The Department has maintained very close contact with Andrew’s family in Oregon and Ireland and has kept them fully informed of all relevant information as we became aware of it,” the “This close liaison will continue. However, the full circumstances of the shooting are unlikely to be known until the investigation by the U.S. authorities is completed.”
The spokesperson added that the minister had instructed the consul general to travel to Oregon last week to offer assistance to Hanlon’s sister.
Continued the spokesperson: “The Consulate will also continue to liaise closely with the U.S. authorities to ensure that Andrew’s remains are repatriated as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile the policeman who fired the shots, 35-year-old Tony Gonzalez, is on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting.
Both Nathan and Melanie Heise said Hanlon would not have posed any threat to officers and they couldn’t imagine him ever carrying a gun.
In a reference to his brother-in-law’s reported paranoia and delusions, Nathan Heise said: “Although he would kind of go in and out of these things, we never thought he would become violent enough to attack a police officer.”
Some reports suggested that the Heises wanted Hanlon to return to Dublin for treatment, but that he was adamant about staying in Oregon.
Sam Madge, a family friend, said Hanlon was “a little emotionally unstable, but he had a good heart.”
Resident Mimi Surbaugh said she heard officers telling people to stay clear. “It just sounded like they were trying to keep their composure, but their voices were shaky,” she said. “You just got a feeling that it was more than a small-town ruckus.”
Silverton Mayor Ken Hector — who is in his 7th term of a town that has 7,000 residents — said he could not recall another instance of police using force and causing a death.
Shortly after the killing 100 people gathered in the town to protest at what they said was excessive force.

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