Oregon Man Lucas Padgett Wants Guns Brother Used In School Shooting Back

Lucas Padgett, the brother of Oregon school shooter Jared Padgett, wants the gun used to kill a student and wound a teacher given back to the family. The Troutdale school shooting occurred last year. The first hearing on the Padgett family demand is slated to take place next week.

Lucas Padgett filed a motion requesting the return of the semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, ammo, Army laundry bag, and vest used by Jared Padgett last month. The Multnomah County Circuit Court will hear the motion relating to the rifle and other items used by the 15-year-old shooter on Wednesday, MSN reports.

The rifle used in the shooting reportedly belonged to Lucas Padgett, 25. The teenager also reportedly carried his father’s handgun when he went inside the Reynolds High School locker room and opened fire last June. Troutdale is a suburb of Portland. Padgett shot and wounded the gym teacher and killed a fellow freshman, Emilio Hoffman, before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide, Reuters notes.

Both Lucas Padgett and his father told law enforcement investigators that Jared stole the weapons from the home. The relatives of the Oregon school shooter also maintain there were unaware that the teenager posed a threat to himself or others.

“These items belong to me and I have never been charged with any offense,” Lucas Padgett stated in an affidavit filed in the gun return case. “I am entitled to their return and there is no legal impediment to my possession of said property.”

The city of Troutdale opposes the return of the AR-15 rifle, the handgun, and other items utilized by Jared Padgett in the Reynolds High School shooting.

An excerpt from the city’s response noted in court document filings related to the Padgett case:

“The fact remains that the materials sought by Padgett were seized at a horrific crime scene as part of a criminal investigation involving the shooting deaths of two persons and remain as evidence in that matter for which the statute of limitations have not yet expired,”

Troutdale Police Lieutenant Joel Wedland was one of the first to arrive on the scene after 911 calls about the school shooting. Lieutenant Wedland also opposed returning the firearms to their owners.

“The investigation is not closed,” Wedland stated in the court documents.

Many of those who support the return of the semi-automatic rifle and the pistol have expressed confusion about an ongoing investigation into the case since the shooter is dead.

The rifle owned by the U.S. Army Reservist was reportedly stored inside a “Pelican” brand hard gun case in a bedroom shared by the two brothers. The father’s handgun was reportedly kept inside a locked bedroom.

Do you think the AR-15 rifle, handgun, and other items used by Jared Padgett should be returned to the family?

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