Authorities in Oregon says Jacob Gardner, the white downtown Omaha bar owner who fatally shot a young Black man during Black Lives Matter in May, committed suicide over the weekend in a Portland suburb.
Hillsboro police say the body of the 38-year old Gardner was found Sunday outside a medical clinic. He did not leave a note.
Gardner shot 22-year old James Scurlock outside his bar on May 30th. The Douglas County Attorney ruled a few days later that Gardner acted in self-defense, but a special prosecutor was later named and a grand jury called.
The grand jury last week indicted Gardner on 4 felony counts, including manslaughter.
Attorney Stu Dornan, part of Gardner’s legal team, says Gardner left Omaha following Scurlock’s death amid death threats, and went to California and then to Oregon.
Dornan says Gardner told him the grand jury indictment and the issuing of an arrest warrant was a shock that really shook him up, but that he intended to return to Omaha Sunday night