Benton Count District Attorney Determines North Albany Officer Involved Shooting Was Legally Justified (Photo) - 03/05/26
On January 6th, two Albany Police Department officers shot and injured 21 year old Maverick Lyon after being dispatched to a residence on a report of one brother being held at knife point by a another brother. When one of the brothers, Maverick Lyon, quickly exited the residence, holding a large fixed blade knife, Officers Matt Thomas and Engle Diaz fired their pistols in response.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office conducted an independent investigation, led by Lt. David Iverson, and made that evaluation available to my office for consideration. My Chief DDA, Amie Matusko, has conducted a legal analysis of the matter, which is attached and incorporated by reference here.
The question to be answered is whether the officers’ decision to fire their duty pistols was based on an objectively reasonable belief that doing so was necessary to prevent serious injury or death to themselves or their fellow officers.
In conducting my evaluation, I have the benefit of hindsight. I am also privy to more specific information about the events leading up to the shooting than were the officers. I have the ability to watch video evidence, in slow motion, over and over again, from several different angles.
However, the evaluation must be made in light of what the officers knew and perceived leading up to and at the exact time their decision was made. In this case, the officers, in real time, had only fractions of a second to decide how to act.
Later investigation revealed that Maverick was the victim being held at knife point by his brother, John “Dakota” Lyon. Dakota’s criminal acts led to the police being called to the scene. Dakota has now been charged with kidnapping and other crimes, and will be held accountable for those crimes.
Maverick’s efforts to escape his brother, even while he still held a second knife, unknown to the officers, must be viewed through the lens of the extreme stress and fear he must have felt. I have read on social media that some have said “the police shot the wrong guy.” In a purely moral sense, no one “deserves” to be shot, least of all the victim who was seeking help. The fact that things unfolded as they did is an absolute tragedy. Though I have not spoken with the officers, I am confident they would not have wished it to turn out that way.
Here, though, my duty comes down to answering the legal question. In this case, it is my determination that the decisions of Officers Thomas and Diaz to fire their duty weapons in this case was based on an objectively reasonable belief that to do so was necessary in order to protect their own lives or the lives of fellow officers.
Ryan S. Joslin
Benton County District Attorney