By: Everton Bailey Jr.
https://muckrack.com/EvertonBailey
A white Nebraska bar owner indicted five days ago in the May killing of a Black man during protests in Omaha killed himself in Hillsboro on Sunday, authorities say.
Jake Gardner, 38, was found outside a medical clinic in the 300 block of Southeast Ninth Avenue around 12:20 p.m., according to Sgt. Eric Bunday, a Hillsboro police spokesperson. He declined to release any more information about the death Sunday, citing an ongoing investigation.
Attorneys representing Gardner held a news conference in Omaha on Sunday saying he killed himself. They maintained Gardner shot 22-year-old James Scurlock on May 30 in “a clear case of self defense” and that he fled Nebraska sometime before the indictment because he feared for his safety.
Gardner was indicted by a grand jury in Omaha on Tuesday on charges of manslaughter, attempted assault, making terroristic threats and using a weapon while committing a felony in the shooting of Scurlock. Gardner planned to return to Nebraska on Sunday evening and turn himself in to authorities, said attorney Stu Dornan.
The district attorney in Douglas County, where Omaha is located, initially declined to file charges against Gardner, saying evidence showed the killing was in self defense. A special prosecutor in the case said surveillance video, messages from Scurlock’s phone and Facebook account and other evidence showed otherwise and that the grand jury had access to more information in the killing than the district attorney did months earlier.
Scurlock’s killing and the initial decision not to charge Gardner became a focal point of several racial justice rallies in Omaha during the summer.
Nebraska authorities said Gardner shot Scurlock outside his downtown Omaha bar during protests for law enforcement and social justice reforms in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
Authorities said the altercation started after Gardner’s father told protesters outside the bar to leave and pushed one of them. One of them pushed the father back, leading to Gardner intervening. At some point, Gardner showed protesters he had a handgun, was pushed to the ground by some in the group, then he fired two shots that didn’t appear to hit anyone.
Scurlock then jumped on Gardner’s back and the bar owner shot him, authorities said.
Dornan described Gardner as an Iraq War veteran with brain injuries who was shocked by the indictment when they spoke recently. The attorney called the deaths of Scurlock and Gardner “terrible tragedies.”
https://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/2020/09/bar-owner-indicted-in-killing-of-nebraska-protester-found-dead-in-oregon.html