There appears to be no law enforcement body camera footage of the police shooting of an alleged fugitive at his fathers funeral.
WV News reached out to West Virginia State Police, which is investigating the shooting, through an open records law request. WV News requested access to and a copy of all body camera video from all officers who were on scene and/or participating in the attempt to capture West Virginia Divisions of Corrections and Rehabilitation parole fugitive Jason Arnie Owens the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.
State Police responded Wednesday, saying in an email that a search has been conducted and the West Virginia State Police is not in possession of any records of your request.
Follow-up calls Wednesday and Thursday to Acting U.S. Marshal Terry Moore, Harrison Sheriff Robert Matheny and Bridgeport Police Chief Mark Rogers indicated there was no body camera footage of the shooting, just footage afterward of a deputy rendering aid.
Moore qualified his comment by deferring to West Virginia State Police for any definitive answer. State Police have declined to discuss the investigation, which they began the day of the shooting at the request of local authorities, who had officers involved in the unit seeking to arrest Owens. State Police Sgt. Ronnie Gaskins, supervisor of the Bridgeport Detachment, previously said a trooper or troopers would be called in from a different area of the state to investigate.
Owens was shot dead by a member or members of a U.S. Marshals-led Mountain State Fugitive Task Force, according to law enforcement.
A Marshals Service statement, released Aug. 24, said that at approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 24, members of the U.S. Marshals-led Mountain State Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies were involved in an officer-involved shooting during a fugitive investigation that resulted in a fatality in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Preliminary information indicates that during the arrest attempt, the subject produced a firearm. As a result, law enforcement officers discharged their firearms striking the individual. Officers immediately rendered first aid until emergency medical services arrived; however, the man succumbed to his injuries. No law enforcement officers or other persons were injured during the incident.
Evelyn ODell, the aunt of Owens, said she was at the funeral and described what happened very differently.
She and other family, friends and supporters protested Aug. 29 in front of the Harrison County Courthouse.
We was really close. Hes more than just my nephew to me. He was my big me, and I was his little me, ODell said.
They shot him at his dads funeral, said ODell, referring to the funeral of Junior Arnie Owens, 59, of Clarksburg, who passed away unexpectedly Aug. 20, the Saturday prior to the shooting.
He just took his dad out; he was a pallbearer. He had just laid his dad in the back of a hearse, and he was walking around, and I was hugging him. Next thing I know, somebody yelled Jason. I still had my hand on my shoulder, my one hand from hugging him, when the first bullet hit him. He never pulled a gun or nothing, and were trying to get justice for him because they cold-blooded killed him. He never pulled a gun. He did not pull a gun, ODell said.
The Marshals Service has declined to say why authorities were trying to arrest Jason Owens, who was prohibited from owning or even possessing firearms due to a prior felony conviction.
Owens apparently still was on parole in a case in which he was sentenced in December 2018 to 3-13 years in prison for fleeing with reckless indifference, strangulation and second-offense battery on a governmental representative.
In that case, law enforcement had alleged that Owens fled recklessly in a vehicle and strangled and assaulted Brian Deem, then a deputy for the Harrison County Sheriffs Office and now a sergeant.
Harrison Circuit Judge James A. Matish imposed the maximum sentence during a Dec. 12, 2018, hearing. This was very serious, Matish told Owens. You could have easily strangled Deputy Deem to the point of a murder, and thats all the more reason to impose (the maximum sentence).
Owens had pleaded guilty in that case to fleeing with reckless indifference, strangulation and second-offense battery on a governmental representative. Three other counts were dismissed.
On Oct. 25, 2018, Owens admitted fleeing recklessly in a vehicle April 12, 2018, from law enforcement and then, when he tried to get away on foot, grappling with Deem after Deem grabbed his shirt and they slid down a hill.
At the plea hearing about four years ago, Owens said he held Deem down by the neck while the deputy was trying to hit him. But he added that he then explained he was high and scared and subsequently allowed Deem to handcuff him. Owens also acknowledged a prior battery on a Lumberport police officer dating back about a dozen years.
Owens initially was charged in the 2018 case with strangling, reckless fleeing, disarming a law enforcement officer and third-offense driving on a license suspended or revoked for driving under the influence. In September 2018, he was indicted on those four charges, plus the second-offense battery on a governmental representative count and one count of fleeing by means other than a vehicle.
Deem alleged he initiated a traffic stop about 6 p.m. April 12, 2018, on a sport utility vehicle that was traveling behind Harrison Deputy Jon Flanagans vehicle. Flanagan also initiated a traffic stop by activating his emergency lights and sirens and using his arm to signal for the driver to pull over, according to the complaint. At that time, the driver of the vehicle Owens passed Flanagans cruiser on the right side by driving off the roadway, the complaint alleged. Owens then began traveling in the wrong lane and passing other vehicles in designated no-passing zones, law enforcement alleged.
At one point, Owens almost struck an oncoming vehicle head on, according to law enforcement. He allegedly fled down U.S. 19, turned west on Crooked Run Road, north on Gregorys Run Road, west on U.S. 20, south onto Ten Mile Road and west onto Rinehart Road, law enforcement alleged.
The pursuit lasted about 25 miles. After the intersection of Caldwell Run Road, the vehicle was traveling without a rear left tire, causing gouges in the roadway, Deem alleged. When the vehicle came to a stop, Owens opened the drivers side door and fled on foot over a hill, Deem alleged.
Deem pursued him, while Flanagan pursued a female passenger exiting the vehicle, according to law enforcement. Owens was advised to stop fleeing on foot multiple times and refused to do so, according to law enforcement. Deem drew his gun and attempted to apprehend Owens, according to the complaint.
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