A successful Portland financier is accused of killing a man Wednesday and attacking another in a violent road rage incident.
Geoffrey E. Hammond, 46, owns financial company Aequatium. Investigators believe he stopped his Mercedes Benz SUV in front of a hotel and partially blocked traffic.
This led to an exchange of middle fingers with an irate driver, identified as 47-year-old Ryan Martin. The arrest affidavit noted that Martin drove around Hammond’s parked vehicle.
Martin exited his vehicle and approached Hammond’s SUV. The financier told officers he then loaded his firearm even though he admitted he could see that Martin was unarmed.
The second driver tapped on the vehicle’s window, and witnesses reported there was shouting in the confrontation. That’s when Hammond allegedly rolled down his window and shot Martin once in the chest.
The now-stricken Martin reportedly told Hammond, “I’m sorry, I had a bad day.” However, the shooter allegedly attempted to fire again on the dying man only to have his gun jam.
ROAD RAGE SHOOTING: 46-year-old Geoffrey Hammond shot a man in the chest during an argument over parking, court docs say.
While the man was on the ground pleading with him, Hammond tried to shoot him again, but the gun jammed. He then shot another man filming the incident: pic.twitter.com/sjTWNmGkGu
— Savannah Welch (@svnnh_wlch) October 13, 2023
Witnesses said Hammond told him, “You are lucky I didn’t shoot you in the head.”
The shooter reportedly flashed a badge as if he was an officer.
Witness Samuel Gomez, 46, walked out of the hotel where he was attending a conference and began recording the scene on his cellphone. He was able to record Hammond getting his gun functioning again before the footage showed him firing two shots at Gomez.
The first bullet passed through one of Gomez’s legs before shattering the femur in his other. Police believe Hammond took another shot at his target but missed as he drove away.
According to the affidavit, Hammond confessed to the crime without expressing remorse. He told investigators that he was being stalked before the incident.
The affidavit also read, “Law enforcement interviewed numerous witnesses and obtained a significant amount of video footage of the shooting. Not a single witness described seeing or hearing anything that would have remotely justified the use of deadly force.”
Hammond faces charges of murder in the second degree with a firearm, attempted murder in the second degree with a firearm, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and others.
Media reports said the suspect recently changed his name from Jeffrey Edward Mandalis. Records for that name show an Illinois rap sheet that includes domestic battery, trespassing and vandalism.
