PORTLAND, Ore. — New details are emerging surrounding Wednesday’s deadly shooting in downtown Portland. Police say Geoffrey E. Hammond, 46, a Portland business owner, killed one man and wounded another in a road rage incident.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed Thursday afternoon, the incident started as Hammond was driving downtown in his black Mercedes Benz SUV. He stopped in front of the Moxy Hotel on Southwest Alder, partially blocking traffic, and let his engine idle.
The first victim, identified as 47-year-old Ryan Martin, drove up behind Hammond in a gray Toyota Tundra. The affidavit says that the two "exchanged middle fingers" as Martin drove around Hammond to head eastbound on Alder through the intersection with Southwest 10th. Martin stopped on the other side of the intersection, got out of his vehicle without closing the door, then walked back across 10th toward Hammond, the affidavit says.
As soon as he saw Martin walking toward him, prosecutors said Hammond began loading a gun. He told investigators that he could see Martin was unarmed. Martin tapped on the driver's side window of Hammond's Mercedes.
"It is unclear what, if anything Ryan Martin said while tapping on the window," the affidavit reads, "but witnesses described shouting."
Hammond then rolled down his window and immediately shot Martin in the chest, investigators said. As Martin was lying on the ground, he pleaded with Hammond, saying "I'm sorry. I had a bad day." Hammond allegedly tried to shoot him a second time — then his gun jammed.
Video collected by investigators showed that this scene went on for a full minute, the affidavit says, as Martin lay dying in the street and Hammond tried to get his gun to work so that he could shoot again. Witnesses told police that Hammond at one point flashed some kind of badge "as if he were a police man," and said something to the effect of, "You are lucky I didn't shoot you in the head."
Meanwhile, the affidavit continues, a man named Sam Gomez came out of the Moxy Hotel, where he'd been attending a conference of the National Organization of Minority Architects as a presenter. Seeing Martin on the ground and Hammond in his car with the gun in his hand, Gomez held up his cell phone to record video from about 15 feet away.
Gomez's phone captured the moment when Hammond got his gun functioning again, shooting Gomez in the leg. Hammond then started driving slowly away, the affidavit says, firing a second shot at Gomez that went wide.
According to the affidavit, Hammond called 911 as he was driving himself toward the county courthouse, and freely admitted to dispatch that he'd shot the two men.
"He believed he was justified in doing so because Ryan Martin menaced him and because Sam Gomez might have had a weapon," the affidavit adds.
Hammond drove himself to the top floor of the parking garage across from the courthouse, and homicide detectives reported seeing him through their office window as he turned himself in. In a lengthy interview with investigators, the affidavit says, Hammond again admitted to shooting both men, consented to a search of his vehicle, and said that he knew Martin was unarmed.
He also said that he'd shot Gomez because he thought he "may have been planning an ambush which he recognized as a military tactic," the affidavit adds.
Throughout the interview, the affidavit says, Hammond showed little remorse and shared that he believed groups of people were stalking him.
"Law enforcement interviewed numerous witnesses and obtained a significant amount of video footage of the shooting," the affidavit concludes. "Not a single witness described seeing or hearing anything that would have remotely justified the use of deadly force."
Though witnesses described trying to help Martin, he died at the scene. Gomez was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
Hammond now faces multiple charges, including murder in the second degree with a firearm, attempted murder in the second degree with a firearm, assault in the first degree with a firearm, and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
Hammond's history
In 2020, Hammond founded a financial company in Portland called Aequantium, which managed pooled funds that invested in commodities futures and related securities. In 2021, Hammond spoke at a CoinGeek conference in New York about his company. Clips of the presentation and an interview with Hammond are posted on YouTube. Hammond also owns Aequantium Research, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s website.
In May 2023, Hammond filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Court records indicate he owed roughly $34,000 in credit card debt and was out of a job after his company closed. Hammond owns an $890,000 home in Portland’s West Hills, a 2020 Mercedes SUV and four firearms, according to court documents.
Hammond, who is single with no children, has two traffic tickets in Multnomah County, according to court records. The federal bankruptcy filing indicates Hammond previously used the name Jeffrey Edward Mandalis. Court records indicate Mandalis has a criminal history in Illinois including charges of assault, vandalism, trespassing and domestic battery.