BEND, OR -- Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says 39-year-old Medford man, Robert Garris, acted inappropriately in the shooting of Christopher Nolan in front of Bend's Jack in the Box restaurant, but says no criminal charges will be filed.
Hummel says there are reports that Garris, who was staying at the Days Inn while working a construction job, would complain about, and then approach people whose looks he didn't like. "He would walk up to these people aggressively, and in essence, tell them to scram. Get off the property. He was acting like the self-anointed Sheriff of the Day's Inn."
Hummel says Garris was a licensed concealed carry, but even so, the better choice would've been to call the police if he saw suspicious activity. "It's not his job to clear the premises of people he doesn't like the look of and in this incident on May 14th, same situation."
The Jack in the Box's surveillance cameras show Garris approaching Nolan, who pulls a knife on Garris, who backed up, drew his 40 caliber Glock 22, and fired 7 bullets, striking Nolan 4 times.
Garris told the DA he saw Nolan sitting with a friend outside the fast food establishment and went to tell him to leave the area. "At that point, Nolan pulled out a switchblade and extended the blade, and then Garris pulled out his gun, told Nolan to drop the knife, when Nolan did not, that's when Garris discharged 7 rounds. He struck Nolan 4 times." Hummel thinks what Garris did, though in self-defense, was inappropriate and dangerous. "Numerous people in our community were put at risk because of Garris' ridiculous actions."
Hummel says Garris' confronting Nolan was inappropriate and dangerous, but it was Nolan's decision to escalate. "When Nolan pulled out a knife, that was Nolan threatening deadly physical force. At that point, Garris is justified in using deadly physical force against Nolan. So, in that sense, Nolan brought a knife to a fist fight, and Garris brought a gun to a knife fight."
Nolan is currently recuperating at St. Charles Hospital in Bend and is expected to survive.
