PARIS — Police were justified in shooting at a 37-year-old homeless man who stole two police vehicles and engaged in a shootout with nearly a dozen law enforcement officers in May 2024, according to an Attorney General’s Office report.

In all, 11 police officers from five departments fired on Gary Porter during a shootout that followed the theft of two police vehicles and a chase that ended only after he lost control of the vehicle and crashed.

Gary Porter appears in South Paris District Court in May via videoconference from York County Jail in Alfred. On Friday, the attorney general’s office announced that 11 officers who fired on Porter during a chase last May were justified. Screenshot from video

Ultimately, the Office of the Attorney General found that all of the police officers who fired upon Porter were justified.

“All the facts and circumstances point to the conclusion that the law enforcement officers who used deadly force in attempting to arrest Mr. Porter reasonably believed that they were acting in self-defense or the defense of others …” the report states.

The drama began May 6, 2024, when police arrested Porter on a warrant for earlier charges after he had been found sleeping in a chicken coop. He was taken to a Norway hospital due to concerns about his health.

Later, while then-Paris police Chief Michael Dailey was attempting to remove Porter from a Paris police pickup truck at the Oxford County Jail in Paris for booking, Porter commandeered the truck while handcuffed and wearing a hospital gown. 

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“Porter was able to slip his cuffs from the back to the front and move to the driver’s seat and steal the Paris Police cruiser,” according to a police news release. 

Dailey was “thrown from the moving vehicle” while attempting to stop the truck, according to police reports. Other officers notified that Porter was on the run were also advised that Dailey’s firearm was with Porter in the stolen truck.

During the chase, according the Attorney General’s report, Porter drove erratically and at high speeds, at one point driving straight at a pursuing officer.

After a police pursuit, Porter crashed the truck on Route 117 in Paris. He then stole a second law enforcement vehicle and exchanged gunfire with police. Some officers fired at the fleeing Porter, according to the state’s report, because they believed that he was going to try to run over officers outside their vehicles.

As the chase continued, officers from Paris, Oxford and Norway police departments responded along with state police troopers and Oxford County Sheriff’s deputies.

Porter was arrested after crashing the vehicle, according to the report. 

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Porter did not suffer any life-threatening injuries as a result of the shootout. Initially deemed unfit to attend court hearings on the matter, he was ultimately indicted by an Oxford County grand jury on a charge of escape and two charges of theft by unauthorized taking, each crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Porter also was charged with assault on an officer, eluding an officer and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. Each of those felonies is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Porter remains jailed without bail while awaiting further court action.

At an earlier hearing, his attorney sought mental evaluations of Porter’s competency and to determine whether he suffered from an abnormal condition of mind at the time of his alleged criminal conduct.

The state’s report acknowledged that some of the officers who fired upon Porter did so due to false beliefs at the time. In one instance, Porter stepped out of one of the stolen vehicles with a cellphone in hand, which one officer believed to be a firearm.

In another instance, an Oxford County Sheriff’s lieutenant shot out the back window of a stolen cruiser, leading other officers to believe that Porter was in possession of a firearm and that he was actively shooting at them.

“While the use of deadly force events were based on a series of inaccurate beliefs, namely that Mr. Porter was in possession of Chief Dailey’s firearm or was otherwise armed,” according to the state’s report, “the mistaken belief of law enforcement were created by the actions of Mr. Porter.”

In July, Dailey resigned as chief. He and 10 other officers had remained on administrative leave while the Attorney General’s Office investigated the shootout.

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