HOW COULD THERE HAVE BEEN ANY DOUBT THAT THE COPS WERE JUSTIFIED IN SHOOTING JAMES TYLKA?

Oregon trooper shot 12 times: 'I'm thankful to be alive'

By Everton Bailey Jr.

The Oregonian
July 20, 2017

PORTLAND, Oregon -- A state trooper shot 12 times by a murder suspect was justified in firing back in a furious Christmas Day shootout that ended when the suspect killed himself, the Washington County District Attorney's Office found after an investigation.

Video and audio evidence supports Trooper Nic Cederberg's statements to investigators that he believed his life was in danger, senior prosecutor Bracken McKey wrote in a memo released Wednesday.

Cederberg encountered James Tylka, 30, in Sherwood about a half-hour after Tylka fatally shot his estranged wife, 24-year-old Katelynn Armand-Tylka, outside his parents' house in King City and drove away last Dec. 25.

The District Attorney's Office previously ruled five other police officers were justified in shooting Tylka 20 times when they came to Cederberg's aid. Tylka waited to ambush them as Cederberg lay bleeding outside his patrol car, prosecutors said.

Cederberg was shot in his hip, wrist, tibia, triceps, torso and twice under his arm, the memo said. He was hit five more times in his ballistic vest.

Cederberg had been on patrol in Tigard about 10:15 p.m. on Christmas when dispatchers alerted officers to be on the lookout for Tylka's white Mitsubishi, according to the memo.

The trooper drove through back roads in the area and found Tylka driving toward Oregon 99. Tylka refused to pull over despite Cederberg behind him with his lights flashing and orders to stop, the memo said.

Tylka fired at Cederberg several times as they both drove down Southwest Gimm Lane, a dead-end road, the memo said. After Tylka turned around at the dead end, facing Cederberg's patrol car, he sped toward the trooper from about 30 yards away.

Cederberg parked, got out of his patrol car and fired 16 shots at the speeding Mitsubishi as it rammed the front of the patrol car, according to the memo. Tylka had been hit by at least one of Cederberg's bullets while in his car.

Tylka fired at the trooper six times through his passenger side window and hit Cederberg at least twice, the memo said. Cederberg radioed that he'd been shot.

Tylka then got out of the Mitsubishi and went to the back of his car. Cederberg reloaded his pistol and fired 16 more shots as Tylka ducked behind the Mitsubishi and fired back.

Tylka ran toward Cederberg as the trooper was reloading again and fired three more times at Cederberg, the memo said. Tylka then leaned over the patrol car's hood and fired seven more times at Cederberg at close range.

The time from the ramming to the last time Tylka shot Cederberg unfolded over 50 seconds, according to the memo.

The five other officers -- Hillsboro Officer Anthony Cristofaro, Tualatin Officer Eli Sanders and Sherwood Officers Stan Smith, Joe Twigg and Chris Pierce -- arrived soon after. Tylka shot himself in the head as the officers opened fire, prosecutors said.

Cederberg remained in the hospital until February. He spoke to investigators the next month, according to the memo.

The trooper hasn't returned to active duty. He said this week that he still suffers from severe nerve damage, has had 11 surgeries and will likely have more.

"I am thankful to be alive," Cederberg told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "It's easy to say that every day when you have not been where I have. There is a small group of people solely responsible for me being here. From the officers who went above and beyond to get me out of there, to the OHSU trauma doctors who were amazing."