RELATIVES OF Andrew Hanlon, the young Irishman shot dead by an Oregon police officer this week, have said that wounds in his body showed he had been shot at least seven times.
Mr Hanlon's sister Melanie and her husband Nathan Heise viewed the shooting victim's body on Thursday. Mr Heise said he had two gunshot wounds to his left arm, three wounds to his abdomen, one on his thigh and one in the back of his shoulder.
"It was definitely not grouped in one area," Mr Heise told the local Statesman Journal newspaper.
Mr Hanlon (20) was shot dead after police responded to a reported burglary in Silverton, the small town where he had been living for the past year. The police officer who fired the shots has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by a neighbouring police force.
Mr Hanlon's relatives have complained that local authorities have released few details about the shooting. Officials have declined to say if Mr Hanlon was armed at the time he was killed. Marion County district attorney Walt Beglau said no further information would be released until after the investigation was complete.
"At a point in the future, my office will provide a clear understanding of these events, but not before a thorough, fact-finding investigation is complete. It is imperative that the integrity of this process - like that in every investigation - is preserved. A just result depends upon it," he said.
The investigation, which is expected to last up to three weeks, will be followed by a grand jury hearing conducted behind closed doors before a decision on any charges.
Investigations of police shootings focus on whether the police officer was justified in taking the action he did on the basis of a perceived imminent threat.
Mr Hanlon's relatives have said they would be astonished to learn that the shooting victim was carrying a weapon when he was shot.