This is the shocking moment a wealthy Portland businessman shot and killed a tourist visiting downtown, just moments after killing another driver in a traffic accident in broad daylight.
Samuel Gomez, 48, photographed Geoffrey E. Hammond, 46, pointing the gun at him in Rose City on Wednesday afternoon while Ryan Martin, 47, lay dead on the ground next to Hammond’s Mercedes.
Hammond is accused of murdering Martin shortly after a road rage incident broke out in the crime-ridden city after Martin got out of his Toyota Tundra to confront him, The Oregonian reported.
The couple “exchanged the middle finger” and Martin got out of his car unarmed, walked up to Hammond’s vehicle and knocked on the window, at which point Hammond shot him in the chest, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Hammond then shot Phoenix resident Gomez, who was in town for a National Organization of Minority Architects conference. The Oregon city is notorious for its murders, recording a record 101 murders in 2022. There were 92 murders in 2021, although the murder rate has declined this year and currently stands at 53.
This is the shocking moment a wealthy Portland businessman shoots a tourist visiting downtown, just moments after killing another driver
Geoffrey E. Hammond, 46, is alleged to have shot 47-year-old Ryan Martin (pictured right)
At first, Gomez thought Hammond was an undercover police officer who had taken control of the chaotic scene.
But moments later he found himself knocking down the barrel of a gun just ten meters away before he was shot.
“He loaded the gun and looked right at me and then, as you can see in the picture, he just knocked me out,” Gomez told The Oregonian.
The bullet struck Gomez in the leg and penetrated the femur in the other.
“Everything just changed,” Gomez said. “I’m just thankful I’m alive because it could have been worse.”
Two passers-by and a doctor who happened to be nearby rushed to his aid.
Gomez was then taken to OHSU Hospital where he is recovering.
Martin, of Southwest Washington, died at the scene after pleading with Hammond, who tried to shoot him again, but his gun malfunctioned.
Samuel Gomez, 48, photographed a man with a gun in his Mercedes SUV just moments after he heard the man shoot another driver as he lay dying in the road
Police have charged Hammond with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and fourth-degree assault
Martin, of Southwest Washington, died at the scene after pleading with Hammond, who tried to shoot him again, but his gun malfunctioned
Hammond owns an $890,000 home in Portland’s West Hills (pictured), a 2020 Mercedes SUV and four firearms, according to court documents
The daytime shooting was the latest in a string of killings in Portland over the past two weeks
Hammond called 911 as he drove to the county courthouse and openly admitted to police that he shot the two men
‘I’m sorry. “I was having a bad day,” witnesses recalled of the injured man appealing from the ground.
Witnesses told police that Hammond once flashed some kind of badge “as if he were a police officer” and said something that sounded something like: “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you in the head.”
Hammond called 911 as he drove to the county courthouse and openly admitted to police that he shot the two men.
“He believed he was justified in doing so because Ryan Martin was threatening him and because Sam Gomez may have a weapon,” the affidavit states.
During a lengthy interview, Hammond told investigators that he shot both men, consented to a search of his car, that he saw that Martin was unarmed before shooting him, and that he intended to shoot Martin a second time Time to shoot, but the gun malfunction stopped him.
He also told investigators that he shot the man from the hotel because he believed the man “may have been planning an ambush that he recognized as a military tactic.”
Police have charged Hammond with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and fourth-degree assault.
Court records show Hammond recently changed his name from Jeffrey Edward Mandalis.
Hammond, formerly known as Jeffrey Edward Mandalis, has a criminal history including assault, vandalism, trespassing and battery
Records show Mandalis has a criminal history in Illinois, including assault, vandalism, trespassing and battery.
In May 2023, Hammond filed for bankruptcy with approximately $34,000 in credit card debt and became unemployed after his financial company closed.
According to court documents, Hammond owns an $890,000 home in Portland’s West Hills, a 2020 Mercedes SUV and four firearms.
The National Organization of Minority Architects initially advised conference attendees not to walk around Portland and to take Uber or Lyft when traveling around the city.
The daytime shooting was the latest in a string of killings in Portland over the past two weeks, with much of the violence concentrated in the drug-heavy downtown area.
The city’s tourism board has also warned that open drug trafficking and street drug use are endangering Portland’s visitor industry.
Most of the murders in downtown Portland are related to the city’s fentanyl crisis, with Martin’s killing representing a shocking break from the norm.