The shooting death of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during the Oregon siege was deemed justified by investigators, but federal officials are now investigating the FBI after agents failed to report shots they fired during the confrontation.
The Oregonian reported that Finicum was in a white Dodge pickup when he raced toward a police roadblock on Jan. 26. Law enforcement fired on the car, at which time Finicum stopped, exited the vehicle, and was subsequently shot and killed by Oregon state officers.
Investigators from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office accounted for six shots total, three from the AR-15 of a state trooper that hit the vehicle, and three that struck Finicum in his back.
An additional bullet hole, found on the vehicle, did not match the others.
"The fourth round, police concluded, was fired by an FBI agent who subsequently twice denied to investigators ever firing his gun. As the investigation proceeded, detectives determined he also fired a second time, but didn't hit anything at the scene," wrote The Oregonian.
Because of the alleged non-disclosure, the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Inspector General is now investigating the FBI.
Five agents from the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team were at the scene, and could face prosecution.
"Of particular concern to all of us is that the HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) operators did not disclose their shots to our investigators or their superiors," said Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson. "Nor did they discuss specific actions they took after the shooting, which are the subject of an ongoing investigation."
The team is one of the FBI's elite groups, and operate out of the agency's base in Quantico, Virginia. The names of the agents under investigation have not been disclosed.
The investigation of the shooting was based in part on previously undisclosed video taken by a passenger in Finicum's vehicle,
The New York Times reported.
In the video, Finicum is seen taunting law enforcement from the driver's seat after stopping his vehicle.
"You do as you damn well please, we’re not going anywhere," he yells to the officers. "You can go ahead and shoot me, put the laser right there, put the bullet through the head. O.K., boys?"
Finicum was the only person who died during the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The leaders of the occupiers, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, demanded the federal government hand over its land in the West to local governments or private owners. They also sought to draw attention to what they called the un-justified prison sentences of two local ranchers convicted of lighting fires on federal land.