Natzeryt “Nat” Viertel stepped out of the shed at his south Salem home, aimed a shotgun at an approaching Salem firefighter and pulled the trigger.
There was only a click.
Salem firefighter Kyle Holestine retreated back out the driveway to the street – Southeast Ewald Avenue – on the evening of April 2, talking to Viertel all the while, trying to calm him.
Viertel, 22, instead racked the shotgun again, advancing on the firefighter.
Within moments, he aimed the shotgun at two Salem police officers, defying orders to drop the weapon.
He was shot and killed.
A Marion County grand jury on Friday, April 23, ruled that Corporal Clint Sealey was justified in using deadly force.
Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson’s office Friday evening released a detailed account of the fatal shooting in a press release.
“I’m grateful that these firefighters and officers returned home safely to their loved ones,” Clarkson said in her statement. “This is a tragedy for the family of Natzeryt Viertel and my office extends our sympathy to them.”
The situation developed after Jessica Rothgery, Viertel’s mother, returned home from work to find her son bleeding heavily from one arm. In a later interview with Salem Reporter, Rothgery said her son struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues since he was a teenager. He had been through drug treatment programs repeatedly in recent years and worked as a carpenter.
Based on the statement from Clarkson’s office, here is what happened after the mother called 911:
Rothgery left her house and locked herself in her minivan parked in the driveway, staying on the line with an emergency dispatcher. She said she thought her son had gone into the backyard.
She told the dispatcher that “she did not believe he had access to any guns since earlier that day he had asked her to buy a gun so that she could shoot him.”
Arriving firefighters worked their way to the backyard when they heard sounds from a shed. Viertel stepped out, his arms and face bloodied, holding a shotgun that authorities later said he legally bought in 2018 without his mother’s knowledge.
“Natzeryt Viertel then pointed the shotgun at Kyle Holestine, the closest firefighter, and pulled the trigger,” the statement said. “Instead of a shotgun blast, there was only a ‘click.’”
Holestine told the rest of his crew to return to their truck and he followed, talking to Viertel and explaining they were there to help him.
“Viertel re-racked the shotgun and began advancing towards Kyle Holestine,” the statement said. He trailed Holestine back to the fire truck, never taking his aim off the firefighter.
Once at the truck, Holestine ducked down, “believing that Natzeryt Viertel was going to shoot him.” The firefighters drove down the street, reporting that Viertel had a shotgun.
Sealey, a 9-year veteran of the Salem agency, and Sgt. Steve Galvin, with the agency 14 years, arrived at the house at 5:16 p.m. – 14 minutes after the mother called 911.
The statement said that access was along a driveway lined with overgrown brush.
As the two officers walked down the driveway, they spotted Viertel’s mother waving her arms at the officers, and then saw Viertel behind his mother’s minivan. The suicidal man then stepped between that and another vehicle, advancing on the two officers.
Sealey aimed his rifle at Viertel, ordering him “Drop the gun!”
Instead, he aimed at the two officers. Sealey believed he or Galvin were about to be killed so he fired twice, hitting Viertel in the chest.
His mother testified to the grand jury about what she saw.
“She was clear in her opinion that Corporal Sealey had no choice,” the statement said.
On Friday, Sealey learned that Viertel’s shotgun wasn’t loaded.
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Salem mother tells of efforts to help son in moments before fatal police shooting
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