Jason Robert Steiner in a courtroom in Multnomah County, Oregon, on Oct. 10, 2024 (KGW).
A jury in Oregon sided with the defense and voted to acquit a cannabis store manager who killed two armed robbers.
Jason Steiner, 35, was facing two counts of first-degree murder and other charges in the October 2024 shooting at the pot shop in the Portland area. Prosecutors argued that he could have fled the scene before he shot the robbers in the back. But Steiner”s defense attorneys said he had a right to defend himself.
“These were not fake or ammo-less guns. They were prepared and ready to kill that night,” defense attorney Thalia Sady said during closing arguments, according to a courtroom report from The Oregonian.
Steiner fired more than a dozen rounds during the attempted robbery. Following the shooting, he reportedly told detectives he saw the suspects “completely oblivious and just decided now is the chance.” Jurors saw body-cam footage of an emotional Steiner saying “I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” according to newspaper.
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Following the verdict he reportedly became overcome with emotion.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the incident in question occurred on Oct. 3, 2024. He had told officers he was the only employee at the regional cannabis dispensary chain La Mota that night, prosecutors wrote in an affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate KGW. Hearing a sound when he was in a backroom, he stepped out to find three individuals pointing guns at him, he allegedly said.
They let him go, but based on one of them wondering aloud what he had on him, he feared they would follow him out, Steiner allegedly said. According to cops, he told investigators he took out his gun from his backpack once outside, and waited at the door in case they followed him. For example, he left his vehicle keys in the building and he voiced concern to officers that the robbers might take his car and “hunt him down.”
The robbers did not follow him out, however, he allegedly said. He went up to the drive-through window, and thinking one of the individuals inside had a gun out, he decided this “was his chance,” and he opened fire until running out of bullets, he allegedly said.
Steiner was the one to call 911. Police said they arrived to find King Lawrence, 18, dead at the scene. Tahir Burley, 20, was attempting to breathe but eventually died there as well. A third person seen on surveillance footage had already fled, officers said.
“At that point, there was no apparent reason why Mr. Steiner did not leave the area,” police wrote. “The individuals were inside the building, the door was closed and Mr. Steiner was the length of the building away from the door and around the corner.”
Though surveillance footage roughly matched his story, it also showed that he opened fire through the drive-through window “almost immediately,” and that none of the three people inside had any gun out when he did so, investigators claim. Only Burley took out a gun, and that was after Steiner shot him, authorities said.
Investigators described finding 13 shell casings at the scene. Steiner allegedly introduced himself as the shooter when law enforcement arrived at the scene, and gave them both the weapon and an empty magazine, authorities said.
Asked why the semiautomatic weapon lacked a serial number, he said he made it, per authorities.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report
