i have just read lavoy finicum's autopsy report. http://media.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/other/2016/03/08/Finicum%20autopsy%20report.pdf .
i makes for interesting reading. finicum was shot 3 times in the back. two of those shots were high in left shoulder, and exited the front of his body on a more or less level pass, hitting no major arteries or the heart.
i have also read a 360 page pdf of the police reports compiled by the oregon state police, and several oregon county sheriff's departments. the statements given by the oregon state police swat team members more or less account for the two shots about in a relatively straightforward manner. the osp officer who shot finicum clearly states that he shot him in the back, after confronting him face to face as he left his pickup. the officer did not feel that finicum presented sufficient danger to him at that point, so he did not shoot him then. only after the officer saw finicum turn his back to him, and then confront another osp officer approaching him, does he say that finicum appeared to reach into his jacket to withdraw a gun, endangering the other officer, prompting him to shoot finicum twice in his upper back. they were aimed shots. that officer said that finicum collapsed immediately, and did not present any further risk to him.
the officer who shot finicum twice in the back said in his notarized and sworn statement that he heard no other shots at that time. he also says that he shot at the finicum vehicle as it approached the roadblock, attempting to disable it. this is confirmed by photos at the scene, showing a bullet impact in the windshield in the driver's field of view, a bullet hole in the front of the hood of the pickup finicum was driving, (a fragment of which was recovered in the vehicle battery), and possibly by a bullet fragment in the a pillar next to the front of the driver's door.
that officer's account seems to square with the physical results of the autopsy, with the film of the scene which i have watched again this evening, and with a film which synchronizes the fbi film taken by aerial surveillance and films taken by hand held phones inside the truck.
i don't particularly like this officer's justification for the shooting, as he shot to protect an officer who was directly watching finicum as he approached but did not see anything that prompted him to shoot in his own protection. ( whose perception of threat is more trustworthy, someone who could see everything, or someone's who view of finicum's actions were obscured by his body?)
that is something to be sorted out by a jury. and, it should be, both in a criminal trial and in a civil trial. but, i think this officer told the truth about what he did, even though clearly coached by counsel before hand, and hardly interrogated by a hostile investigator.
the third shot. the officer who shot finicum as related above shot him with an ar-15 rifle, caliber .223 rem/5.56mm nato. it is quite likely that finicum with prompt medical attention might have survived both shots, and the fbi (on the scene) had a medic along with them (on the scene) for the ride.
the killing shot administered to finicum, a "3rd shot" passing through the right pumping chamber of his heart, was fired from an ar-10 rifle in caliber .308 winchester. not only did it pass through his heart, but a major portion of his anatomy, due to its path.
the killing shot hit finicum in his lower right back, and did incredible damage to his major organs. the best way to describe it is to quote the autopsy report.--
[gunshot wound no. 3] .... gunshot wound, 4 1/2" right of the posterior midline.
the gunshot wound courses from back to front, right to left, and upward. the bullet perforates the posterior left intercostal space, lacerates the lower lobe of the right lung, perforates the diaphragm, perforates and shreds the upper right kidney, perforates the heptic flexure of colon, and perforates the liver. the bullet continues by perforating the diaphragm, perforating the pericardial sac, and perforating the right ventricle of the heart. the bullet then perforates the lingula of the left lung, the anterior left 4th intercostal space, and fractures the left 5th rib. approximately 1500 mL of blood of liquid and clotted blood is within the right hemithorax. approximately 300 mL of liquid and clotted blood is within the peritoneal cavity.
pages 7-8 of the autopsy, link above.
the person who claims responsibility for that shot relates that he shot lavoy finicum at a short distance, and that the did so immediately upon hearing the first shot go off: he relates that he had finicum acquired in his scope sight, his finger on the trigger initiating the trigger pull and that he would have shot even if he hadn't heard the other initial shot(s).
the person who administers the killing shot says he did so while finicum was still standing, and that when he did so, finicum fell to the ground immediately. as i would imagine someone would being so grievously wounded as described.
yet, when i watch the fbi aerial surveillance video of the shooting i can see no one in a position to administer the shot that so clearly killed finicum, who would have been able to shoot him while he was still standing. http://www.npr.org/2016/01/29/464804842/fbi-releases-aerial-surveillance-video-of-refuge-occupiers-death .
and, another matter. the autopsy describes a bullet path to the killing shot that travels upwards from the point of entry to exit, and upwards from the top of the kidney into the right ventricle of the heart. but, finicum falls toward the officers & quickly, he is toppled over as though poleaxed. as such, any bullet from his side would have traveled downward, and no bullet fired from directly behind him could have followed that path.
when lavoy finicum goes to the ground initially, his impact is on his right hip and then he continues his fall to his right side and more squarely onto his back. he is still alive, as after a few seconds or so, he raises his right arm in the snow and points over his head at something. and, then he lies still in the snow, presumably quite dead after receiving that grievous wound.
something doesn't square about the story told by the osp swat team officer who fired what is described as the "3rd shot." and, it is his movement on the ground, after he has been placed them by multiple grievous wounds by high powered rifles shot literally at arm's length. i can tell you as a matter of biblical certainty that were i shot by a .308 winchester shredding my upper right kidney, lacerating my lower right lung, perforating the liver, and going through my right ventricle, i am not going to be on the ground waving my right arm around. as if pointing, accusingly.
i don't think lavoy finicum received the "3rd bullet wound" standing up, and survived that wound long enough to wave his arm and point it. i believe that the only rational explanation for the third wound is that lavoy finicum received it while still alive, lying on his back, he head and upper torso pointed directly toward the roadside where his pickup sat in the snow, and the right side of his body presented to a shooter from somewhere within the structure of the roadblock.
1800 mL of liquid and coagulated blood, and dare i say shredded muscle and organ tissue were inside lavoy finnicum's chest and upper abdominal cavity, perforated by that one bullet only. the wounds to his upper left back and shoulder contributed nothing to this. he did not receive this shot while standing, only to fall and point his arm at something. in my opinion, he received the "3rd shot" lying on the ground, while still alive, and then succumbed to his wounds.
he was shot, and after he had been rendered defenseless, and no longer a threat. on his back, waving and pointing an arm, clearly with no gun in hand. this one single gun shot wound "shredded" a kidney, lacerated and perforated his liver, traveled through the region of his solar plexus, and then through the right ventricle of his heart. and, broke a rib on the way out. think about that.
there is one other factor. and, that is the role of the hostage rescue team in this whole matter. it seems reasonably clear that after the shooting they sanitized the scene to remove any evidence that shots were fired by them. they are under internal investigation. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/03/malheur-oregon-occupation-lavoy-finicum-fbi/474219/ .
it is also reasonably clear that the oregon state police cooperated for the most part (their officers were rehearsed, had counsel present, and said all the correct things about protecting fellow officers, often after convenient coffee breaks to "refresh" memories, but this is to be expected .... i was a lawyer, after all, and found none of this surprising.) they supplied round counts, attempting to account for each round fired.
but, to a great degree, they were foils. the osp swat teams were to effect the stops, and apprehend persons they anticipated to be armed. only then, were the fbi to collect up the "militia" as they were described. osp officer manned the barricades, and were out front to take the brunt of the action. the tip of the spear, as it were. (they also set up and organized a "dead man" road block, likely illegal under the circumstances to effect the arrest of persons for whom no felony arrest warrants had been issued.)
but, they did not submit to interrogation by oregon county sheriff's officers. they did not submit round counts.
and, in the 360 pages of investigative reports that i have read, no ballistics tests appeared to have been administered. not of the osp weapons, so far as i noticed, and most certainly of the weapons carried by the fbi. these are, btw, the same fbi agents who brought you the shooting of randy weaver's wife at ruby ridge as she held a new born baby to her breast in an open and well lit doorway, and who were responsible for the botched slaughter at waco. lon haruchi's little darlings and protegees.
john jay @ 06.24.2017
p.s. i don't mean to muddy the waters. but, i would remind you that finicum and others were at the malheur wildlife preserve, and that this whole episode appears created by a blm land grab in that area to secure and acquire land bearing uranium ore. later bought by a canadian firm fronting for the russians. the sale fronted by hilary clinton, while secretary of state.
no, it is not fiction.