PORTLAND, Ore. — The family of the man killed in a 2023 road rage shooting in downtown Portland has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Multnomah County and Uber, claiming that Ryan Martin’s death was preventable because the man who shot him, Geoffrey Hammond, should not have been able to obtain a concealed handgun license or work as an Uber driver.
The road rage incident was captured by multiple surveillance cameras. It began when Hammond was waiting for a fare and Martin approached on foot to complain that Hammond’s car was partially blocking traffic. Hammond shot Martin after a brief confrontation, then shot at another man nearby who had raised his phone to start taking pictures, hitting him in the leg. Martin died at the scene.
After an initial mistrial last year, Hammond was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted murder earlier this year and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It cites Oregon law that allows for the denial or revocation of a concealed handgun license if the applicant “has been or is reasonably likely to be a danger to self or others, or to the community at large, as a result of the applicant’s mental or psychological state or as demonstrated by the applicant’s past pattern of behavior involving unlawful violence or threats of unlawful violence.”…