Family and friends of Nick Rodin, the man shot by a Crook County Sheriff’s Deputy, turned out in Prineville Saturday looking for justice in the fatal shooting.
“He was a big ole teddy bear, he was sweet,” said Rodin’s mother Leeanne Lamance.
By noon a dozen people with signs reading “Never Forget” and “Fight for Nick”, lined the sidewalk along NE 3rd Street by Pioneer Park.
“They’re covering something up,” a woman shouted out the window of a passing pickup truck.
Rodin was shot and killed Friday, February 4th on SE Maphet Road during an encounter with a Crook County Deputy.
Few details around shooting have been released.
The deputy was placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure when there is use of deadly force.
The Central Oregon Major Incident Team led by the Oregon State Police along with the Crook County District Attorney’s Office is investigating.
“I talked to him the night before it happen he called to tell me he loved me and he was doing good,” said Lamance who traveled from her home in Oklahoma the day after her son was killed.
It wasn’t Rodin’s first brush with law enforcement, he had been in and out of jail, served prison time, and had a warrant for a parole violation at the time of the shooting.
“Just because of the type of person they thought Nick was doesn’t mean he deserved to be treated like this,” said Lamance.
His mother added that Rodin had diagnosed mental illness that many in area law enforcement knew about, and because of that the interaction should have been handled differently.
“He wasn’t going out making enemies, he was just trying to survive,” said his mother.
On Friday the family met with the Crook County District Attorney’s Office, but learned no new details.
“I hope they make the right choices and they get to the bottom, because in my heart I know there’s too much evidence. I know that my son didn’t do anything wrong and I hope that he gets justice,” said Lamance.
Those walking the sidewalks Saturday hope to keep attention on the shooting while they wait for answers as to what happen that Friday afternoon on a gravel road outside of Prineville.
