Fes: G07 sat sons AARON M. Frey isin Sr, some 26 srTomey eee ‘oto ane O08 a Pex Gop mazaase Orvice oF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL cos emma Sr. THY USERS CALL MANE RELAY 711 6 State House Station ‘Tne 207) 480-3792 Aucusta, MAINE 04353-0006 is: G09) $96:3291 April 5, 2021 Sheriff Brie G. Samson Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office 2 Turner Street. ‘Auburn, ME 04210 Chief Jefftey Goss Mechanic Falls Police Department 108 Lewiston Street Mechanic Falls, ME 04256 Dear Sheri Samson ard Chief Goss: We have completed our investigation and legal review of the incident in Minot on February 2, 2020, invoiving the use of deadly force by Sgt, Jon Guay, Deputy Matthew ‘Noyes, and Deputy Darian Nadeau of the Androscoggin County Sherfl’s Office, and Sgt Allred Daigle of the Mechanic Falls Police Department, which resulted in the death of Jason A, Gora, 44. Asyou know, the four officers shot Mr. Gora during an encounter in Minot following a high-speed vehicle pursuit that originated in Auburn the night of Sunday, February 2,2020. By law, the Office of the Attorney General investigates any use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer who, while acting in the performance of his or her duties uses dead y force." actual Summary At 1:38 pm. on Friday, January 31, 2620, Jason Gora's father reported to the ‘Auburn Police Departrent that his estranged son, Jason Gora of Auburn, had posted suicidal ideations on Facebook. The father said that he had been unable to contaet Mr. Gora and that he did not know Mr. Gora’s current residence. The father asked for a wellbeing check on Mi. Gora. Relying on out-of-date address information, an Auburn police officer attempted unsuccessfully to locate Mr. Gora. Learning that Mr. Gora's 2018, river’ license listed his address as Hebron, an Oxford County deputy sheriff checked the "Psat oS MRS. §200-,address only to lear tnat Mr. Gora didnot reside there. Acting on information provided by the father, an Aubuen officer checked another address in Auburn without success. An alert was broadcast to area agencies for a wellbeing check on Mr. Gora, who was reported tobe operating a 1997 black Joop Wrangler. Shortly before pan., Mr, Gora's brother reported tothe Auburn Police Department that he and some friends had located Mr. Gora in his vehicle in Auburn. He said when an attempt was made to retrieve a handgun in Mr. Gora lap, Me. Gora sped off in the Jeep ‘Wrangler, ntrly striking one of the frends. The brother advised police of text messages {tom Me. Gora that were suicidal in nature. ‘The brother also advised police that Mr. Gora ‘was hospitalized for atime in November 2019 after an unsuccessful suicide attempt with rugs. An officer also spoke with Mr, Gora girlfriend, who related that Me. Gora “freaked ‘out” curing a recent asgument and left her Auburn residence, She was unable to provide any information regarcing Mr. Gora’s whereabouts. By 425 pum. the Auburn Police Department had requested a ping of Mr. Gore's cellular phone in an atempt to discover his location. ‘The cellphone carrie reported back 20 minutes later thatthe ping resulted in no location information and that it appeared that Mr. Gora’s phone had been turned off for several hours. Starting about three hours later, the carier reported a series of successful pings of Mr. Gora’s phone in Bowdoin, on I-95 inthe Lewiston-Aubum area, and in other locations in Auburn, Fach area was immediately checked by offices fiom multiple agencies with no success. Calls placed to Mr. Gora’s cellphone went unansvered. At 10:30 pum. the carrier reported again that Mr. Gora's ‘phone had been turned off. Text messages found later on Mr. Gora’seellphone disclosed ‘that from the period of January 31 through February 2, Mr. Gora conversed with others out his intention to commit suicide and accused some of those persons of notifying the police, The text messages included references to setting a stage forthe police to shoot him, And one included a picture of Mr. Gora holding the barel of a semi-automatic handgun in his mouth. In other texting, Mr. Gora referred to smoking meth. Further attempts throughout the night and into Saturday, February 1, to locate Mr. Gora were unsuccessful On Sunday, Fesruary 2, at about 6 pm. an Auburn police officer attempted to call, Mr. Gora with no Success. Shortly after being informed by Mr. Gora’s girlfriend that Mr. Gora's cellphone was back on, the officer called and spoke with Mr. Gora at about 6:25, pam. The officer attempted to persuade Mr. Gora to go to the Auburn Police Department ‘ora hospital. Mr. Gore was agitated and when asked his location, Mr. Gora replied, “Come find me mother fucket and see what happens!” After making other lewd comments, Mr. Gora terminated the eal. Mr. Gora’s girftiend told the officer that she believed Mr. Gora may try f0 provoke ofeers to shoot him. The officer passed on the information to other police units in the area. AU7:45 pm., Aubum Police learned from the sister of Mr. Gora’sgietftiend that Me. Gora’s brother had previously found Mr. Gora and managed to get the handgun away fom him. The brother, when contacted, confirmed this information. Auburn Police also leamed ftom updated cellphone location information that Mr. Gora’s phone was somewhere near the juncture of Route 122 and the Range Road in the Poland area, Theinformation was provided to Set. John Guay ofthe Androscoggin Sheriffs Office, as well ‘as Auburn police officers and Androscoggin County deputy sherifls, including Matthew ‘Noyes and Darian Nadeau, At approximately 8:00 p.m. Mr. Gora’s girlfriend told Aubum Police that she had just spoken with Mr. Gora, who told her that he was walking to the Aubum Police Department to “turn Kimsel in.” However, minutes later, Sgt. Guay broadcast over the radio that Mr. Gora's Jeep Weangler, spotted on Minot Avenue in Auburn, sped off toward Minot when signaled to pull over by Deputy Noyes. Sgt. Guay reported that he and Deputies Noyes and Nadeau, in three separate erusers, were pursing the Jeep Wrangler at speeds of up to 80 mph in areas posted at 40 and 50 mph with the vehicle running stop intersections without slowing, and veering at times into the opposite travel lane forcing ‘oncoming traffic into the breakdown lane. Deputy Noyes led the pursuit followed, respectively, by Deputy Nadeau and Sgt. Guay. Mechanic Falls Police Sgt, Alfred Daigle heard the radio traffic of a high-speed ‘pursuit involving Mr, Gora. Set. Daigle was aware from earlier information that Mr. Gora ‘was operating a black Jeep Wrangler, had expressed suicidal ideations, may be armed, and ‘may provoke the police if stopped. With the intent to deploy a tre deflation device in an attempt to disable Mr, Gora's vehicle, Sgt. Daigle parked his cruiser with emergeney lights ‘activated at the entry of the Minot Post Office with the nose of his cruiser pointing outward atthe fog line ofthe rad. However, seconds after parking his eruiser, Sgt Daigle saw the black Jeep Wrangler rund the comer in the road with deputy sheriffs pursuing it. When Sat. Daigle saw the vehicle erossing over the opposite lan of travel straight at his eruiser, he attempted to back up but the Jeep Wrangler struck his ruiser nearly head-on, causing, the cruiser airbags to deploy and spinning the cruiser from the point of impact. ‘The now heavily damaged Jeep Wrangler was in the roadway with the push bumper ftom Set Daigle's cruiser fixed:o the front end,* The time was approximately 8:20 p.m, Te three deputy sheriffs - Sgt. Guay and Deputies Noyes and Nadeau ~ pursuing the Jeep Wrangler stoppec behind th crash, got out of ther cruisers, and joined Sgt. Daigle in the roadway. The fou officers reported seeing the driver, later determined to be Mr. Gora, moving around inside the Jeep. They issued multiple commands not to move and to show his hands. ACt least to ofthe officers saw Mr. Gora reaching for something inthe back seal, Mr. Gora got our of the vehiele on the passenger's side and fled down the rond with all four officers in pursuit and issuing commands to Mr. Gora to stop. Me, Gora ran into a field and then into a parking lo where he stumbled and turned toward the officers. AIL the officers repovted seeing something in Mr. Gora's hands that they all believed as & firearm being directed at them. This led tothe following actions: 2 Maine Sine Poice Se. Une Foster condictd collision econstution and determined hat Mr owas sehicle erosied both lane of afi and went ofthe opposite side ofthe road 1 intentionally strike St Dhiglseruiser. Heals determined that MG's veil was eaveling approximately 44 mph atthe ine ofthe pact and there wa o evidence tat th eile was outa ental pir to the input >The only ambient ighing in the parking lot was single exterior lamp ove a gaage door.= Dep, Nadeau, believing Mr. Gora was leveling a firearm at him, deployed his taser while, tthe same time, diving to the ground in an attempt to avoid being sot. Dep "Nadeau then uaholstered his firearm and shot at Mr. Gora. = Set. Guay, believing Mr. Gora was holding an object as one would to level a shotgun or long gun and seeing Dep. Nadeau go down to the ground, thought one of his officers may have been shot and fred on Mr. Gora. = Sgt. Daigle, baieving that Me. Gora had a “shockwave” shotgun pointed at them, based on the curvature ofthe weapon and the way Mr. Gora was holding it fired ‘on Mr. Gora.! = Dep. Noyes, believing Mr. Gora had turned on them witha shotgun or other similar firearm, fied on Mr. Gors, All four offiess reported they believed Mr. Gora was threatening ther life and the lives ofthe other officers with deadly force and that they needed to use deadly foree in response to the threat. Even after Mr. Gor, struck by gunfire, fell to the ground in the parking lot, he appeared to be reaching for something. Later investigation determined that the object, a curved Ker style machete (image attached), was about thee feet from where Mr. Gora fell after being shot. ‘The sheath ofthe machete was about 25 feet from where Me. Goa fel Immediate mecical aid was administered by the officers and, shortly thereafter, by emergency medical personnel from Minot and Auburn, but to no avail. A postmartem examination the next iy by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner determined Mr. Gore's cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds. A toxicology screen disclosed an extremely high level of methamphetamine in Mr. Goras system. The level was about twice as high asa level that has beea reported in methamphetamine abusers who exhibited violent and imatonal behavior. Discussion and Legal Analysis ‘The Attorney General's Office has exclusive responsibility for the direction and ‘control of any criminal investigation ofa law enforcement officer, who, while acting inthe performance ofthe officer's duties, uses deadly fore. ‘The detectives who conduct the investigation ofthese incidents are independent of any other law enforcement agency. The ‘purpose of the criminal investigation of the incident in Minot on February 2, 2020, was to determine if the use of deadly force by Set. Guay, Deputy Noyes, Deputy Nadeau, and Sgt. Daigle when they shotand killed Mr. Gora was legally justified. The investigation did not include an analysis of whether any personel setion might be warranted, of whether the use of deadly force could have been averted, or of whether there might be civil liability. Indeed, state law provides justifiable conduct under the Criminal Code does not abolish or impair any other remedy available under law. "The Mosher 59 pump action shockwave i a short-areled shotgun wih “brdshea” xi giving ta slightly curved appearance. The base mode Blac with barel length of 14375 inches and wx over length of 2637 inches, The overall length of the eurvedKukr-syle machete brandish by Mr. Coa when teas hot was 18 ice,Under Maine aw, for any person, including a law enforcement officer, to be justified in using deadly force in self-defense or the defense of others, two requirements ‘must be met. First, the person must reasonably and actually beliove that unlawful deadly {otee is imminently thieatened against the person or against someone else, and, second, the person must reasonably and actually believe that deadly force is necessary to eounter that jmminent threat, Tae legal analysis requires careful attention to the facts and circumstances of the particular case. Further, whether the use of force by a law enforcement officer is reasonable is based on the totality of the particular circumstances ‘and judged from the perspective ofa reasonable officer onthe scene, allowing forthe fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary in 8 given situation. ‘The legal analysis requires careful attention to the facts and cireumstancrs of each case, including the severity of the erime threatened oF committed and whether the suspect poses an immediate threat tothe safety of others Its the determination of this office that it was reasonable for Sgt. Guay, Deputy Noyes, Deputy Nadeau, and Sgt Daigle to believe that unlawful deadly foree against them ‘was imminent and that it was reasonable for them to believe it necessary to use deadly {ore for self-protection and to protect the other officers from serious bodily injury or death Each officer was aware that Mr. Gora was suicidal, had been armed with @ handgun, and ‘may provoke an alteration with police. In the lead up to the use of fore, there was a high- speed chase in which Mr. Gora not only posed a significant danger to the safety of other ‘motorists, but he also threatened the life of Sgt. Daigle when he directed his vehicle atthe police eruiser occupied by the sergeant and crashed into it at approximately 44 mph. To the pursuing officers and to Set. Daigle, this act by Mr. Gora appeared to be intentional ‘After the erash, Mr. Gora failed to comply with any ofthe orders by the officers and led officers on a brief foot chase, Then, Mr. Gora tured to face the officers with an abject in his hands that all four officers perceived to bea firearm, both because of how it looked and how it was being held. All the facts and circumstances point to the conclusion that the officers reasonably believed thir lives were threatened and that it was necessary to act in self-defense and in defense of third parties when they used deadly force. Sincerely, Ansar: Fors ‘oy So‘The Kukri-style machete brandished by Mr. Gora when he was shot.