Shock As US Cop Cleared On Hanlon Death

In a move that will shock Irish people across the world, an Oregon Grand Jury has cleared the police officer who shot dead an unarmed - 'confused' - Irishman.

The family of the 20-year-old victim said Andrew Hanlon was mentally ill when Officer Tony Gonzalez fired at him seven times and hit him five times.

They have insisted that he was disorientated and mistakenly thought he was knocking on his sister's door when somebody reported an attempted break-in to police.

A statement from the Portland District Attorney's Office said today that Officer Gonzalez shot Mr Hanlon "while retreating".

They said that a witness told authorities that Mr Hanlon had been trying to strike the officer while ignoring commands to stop.

In all, 13 witnesses - four police and nine civilians - gave evidence to the Grand Jury.

Officer Gonzalez was not among them, but a video of his interview with detectives was shown.

Steve Crew, a lawyer representing Mr Hanlon's family, told The Oregonian newspaper that last night's ruling was "disappointing and a bit of a surprise for the family".

The victim's mother, Dorothea Hanlon-Carroll travelled to Oregon to meet with Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau following the death of her son Andrew Hanlon earlier this month.

An anonymous witness is said to have passed an audiotape to Mr Hanlon's sister and brother-in-law, Melanie and Nathan Heise in the USA with a recording that reports the young man running barefoot, stumbling and attempting to get up when he was shot by the police officer.

The funeral of the Dublin man took place on Tuesday with Andrew Hanlon's distraught mother and grandmother followed the coffin on its final journey.

Andrew's grandmother asked why the man that killed him had to shoot seven bullets into an unarmed man: "Why use so many bullets? Who would put seven bullets into a man?" she asked.

"Could he not have shot him once in the leg? That would have taken him down. He might have ended up in hospital but we would still have him alive," she added.

The police officer who fired the shots which killed Andrew Hanlon was suspended immediately after the incident, three weeks ago.

Officer Gonzalez, 35, is already in jail on unrelated charges after a woman and her daughter accused him of sexually abusing the underage girl several times.

See: Irishman Shot By US Police Buried

(BMcC)