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The family of Michael T. Jacques, a 31-year-old man shot and killed by police in downtown Bend on Dec. 23, 2016, have retained lawyers. They say Jacques was seated in a minivan with his seatbelt on when police fired four to five shots at close range and killed him after a traffic stop. According to his family and their lawyers, Jacques was unarmed at the time. (The Oregonian file photo)

Bend police fired four to five times at close range at Michael Tyler Jacques as he sat still belted in the driver's seat of his car during a traffic stop last week, his family's lawyers said Thursday.

Jacques was unarmed and traveling with his service dog at the time, the lawyers said in a statement.

"The family urges Bend PD and the Oregon State Police to conduct a fair and honorable investigation of this shooting not with the goal of exonerating the officers but with the sole purpose of determining the truth of what occurred that night,'' attorney Jennifer Coughlin wrote.

Michael Tyler Jacques

State police said they're investigating the shooting Friday night but have released few details about what occurred beyond that Jacques was stopped for driving erratically and then resisted arrest.

They said an officer fired a stun gun at Jacques to take him into custody but that didn't work and gunshots followed. State police haven't said how many officers fired shots or if Jacques was armed.

Bend Police Chief Jim Porter called the encounter an "unavoidable, tragic situation.''

State police spokesman Sgt. Kyle Hove said Thursday he had no new information to release on the shooting.

According to the lawyers, Bend police responded to calls about an erratic driver. The first call to 911 came in at 10:26 p.m. and police fired shots less than five minutes later.

Jacques pulled into a parking lot in a Dodge Caravan and came to a complete stop at Franklin Avenue near Bond Street, according to Coughlin and attorney Michelle Burrows.

A video from a witness showed the driver side door of the van open and two officers standing between Jacques and the door when shots are heard, the lawyers said.

Jacques, 31, had a service dog with him because he suffers from severe post traumatic stress disorder stemming from time in prison on a sex abuse conviction in California, Coughlin said. Once he was off parole, he moved to Oregon to start fresh, Coughlin said.

The family's lawyers also said they were disturbed that some witnesses contacted by their investigators relayed that law enforcement officials told them not to speak to anyone but them.

"These various actions by law enforcement send a disturbing message of cover up and a profound lack of empathy with the victims of police violence, which is the opposite of responsible conduct the public expects of law enforcement,'' the lawyers wrote.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said the investigation is continuing, and he doesn't expect to release any more information until next week. He said two officers were present when Jacques was shot, and both have been interviewed. He would not say whether one or both officers fired their handguns.

"My sympathies are with the family of Michael Jacques and with the involved officers and their families,'' Hummel said Thursday.

Read the lawyers' full statement here.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian