DA releases harrowing account of robbery, pursuit and a fatal police shooting in south Salem

Michael J. Compton, 27, fires at Salem police officers after he was downed by gunfire on Jan. 23 outside the Napa Auto Parts store at 5105 Commercial St. S.E. Compton died from his wounds. The scene was captured on bus video released on Friday, Feb. 3, by Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson's office.

An armed Michael J. Compton tried to commandeer one car, yanked keys for another car from a 79-year-old woman and led police on a foot chase in a south Salem business district before dying in a gun battle in which police officers struck him 18 times to stop him, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday, Feb. 3.

A Marion County grand jury on Friday unanimously found that five Salem…

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