Sergeant In Shooting Identified

from The Oregonian, by Peter Farrell

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office identified the officer who shot a mentally ill woman to death Friday as Sgt. Paul Steigleder II, a supervisor who started with the sheriff's office as a cadet 24 years ago.

A sheriff's spokesman said that following standard procedure, Steigleder will not be interviewed by investigators until after he meets with an attorney Tuesday.
However, witnesses told investigators that Steigleder backed up and even ran from the woman before he reached a position where he could no longer retreat as she charged at him holding a knife above her head, said Joel Manley, the sheriff's public information officer.

"He was out of options," Manley said. "Any deputy would have had no option but to shoot her."

The sheriff's major crimes unit is investigating the shooting under the supervision of the district attorney and medical examiner. Detectives have interviewed other witnesses and have canvassed the area around the Chez Ami Apartments at 8358 Causey Ave., about a half-mile north of Clackamas Town Center, to find anyone with information.

Sheriff Pat Detloff was not available for comment Sunday, Manley said.

Manley said allowing Steigleder to meet with an attorney before talking to investigators did not mean he was suspected of doing anything wrong. "The procedure would be the same for any deputy," he said. "It's automatic."

Investigators do not see a connection between Friday's events and the wounding of Sgt. Damon Coates last year. Coates was surprised when a troubled 15-year-old he was handcuffing suddenly pulled a gun and shot him.

In a lawsuit against the county, Coates, who suffers from permanent injuries, said dispatchers should have done more to make sure he knew the teen was armed and dangerous. He also contends that the deputies originally dispatched to the boy's home were not trained to respond to a situation involving a mentally ill person.

Steigleder was advised by dispatchers that Joyce M. Staudenmaier, 49, who lived with other mentally ill people in the apartment complex, was known to carry a knife at times.

The sergeant went alone to the apartment complex operated by Central City Concern to help a mental health worker restrain Staudenmaier. After receiving a briefing in the complex office, he called for a second deputy.

Before the deputy arrived, Staudenmaier, "obviously in crisis," appeared while Steigleder was talking to people in the office and came at him with a knife, Manley said.

Janice Burdick, Joyce Staudenmaier's sister, was angry about the shooting. She said Saturday that her sister, who had a 30-year history of schizophrenia, should have been dealt with by someone who had experience with the mentally ill.

Staudenmaier's family could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Manley said that from what investigators were told, Staudenmaier was immediately violent.

"This was not a situation where crisis training would apply," Manley said. He said all Clackamas County deputies undergo crisis-intervention training, and as a supervisor, Steigleder had more extensive training.

At one point, Manley said, Steigleder fell while trying to get away from Staudenmaier. "He hit an object -- I don't know if it was a wall -- and he could not go any further" before shooting the woman in the chest. Staudenmaier died in surgery.

Elaine Krause, co-president of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill's Clackamas County chapter, estimated that six years have passed since her organization last conducted crisis management training for Clackamas County sheriff's deputies.

She said representatives from the education and advocacy group talked to the incoming sheriff, Craig Roberts, about a month ago and asked to arrange more training.

Krause said she is reserving judgment on whether Steigleder could have avoided shooting Staudenmaier.

"Sure, it's easy to say they should have handled it differently, and I wish they would have. But regardless, I wasn't there," she said.

"People who are in a psychotic state, they feel trapped, perhaps very fearful, want to defend themselves, feel the whole world is after them," Krause said.

Manley said he had no information on whether Steigleder had been involved in past shootings. The Oregonian's files show that the sergeant fired twice at a car in 1996 after, he said, the driver attempted to run him down after a traffic pursuit. The driver was not injured and was later arrested without incident.

Steigleder, 41, who also supervised the sheriff's marine unit, regularly patrolled the area that included the apartment for the mentally ill. He was described as respected within the sheriff's office.

He started as a cadet in 1980 and served until 1983, when he went to the Sitka, Alaska, police department. In February 1985, he returned to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office as a deputy and was promoted to sergeant three years later.

In 1990, as a traffic team sergeant, he received a National Association of Counties Achievement Award for his work in breaking up teenage drinking parties as a way to reduce traffic deaths among young people. In 1992, he won a scholarship to take special training in juvenile crime and juvenile justice at the University of Southern California School of Public Administration.