The court stood her ground and sentenced a lady who fired two rounds into the Portland International Airport ceiling last year in an odd attempt to intervene with a five-year term on Thursday.
In sentencing Laura Patterson, 48, for the Nov. 14, 2023 shooting, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede chose to follow the firearms crime standard.
Souede stated, “I believe that Ms. Patterson genuinely didn’t intend to harm anyone, but she did put them in danger.” The Legislature chose that minimum sentence specifically to account for that possibility.
Given Patterson’s absence of past convictions, the judge may have imposed a sentence that was less severe than the minimum. Earlier in the trial, Souede ruled in favor of the defense by dismissing multiple allegations of attempted murder.
According to a recorded interview with detectives played during the trial, Patterson had gone to the airport from her apartment in Kennewick, Washington, where she had mostly withdrawn from society during the pandemic while growing convinced she needed to kill her relatives in Texas and Colorado.
She claimed that after arriving at the airport, she struck a glass ceiling window and beam above a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, waiting for a lull in foot traffic to squeeze off two rounds at around 11 p.m.
During the trial, videotapes were shown of detectives questioning Patterson and being perplexed by her laid-back manner.
During the sentence hearing, Patterson noted that during her 13 months in prison thus far, she had been assigned unique tasks in the county jail, making her a trustee.
Everyone who works there complimented us on being one of the better-run modules, she said. Prison wouldn’t assist me, in my opinion.
She no longer wanted to kill her family, Patterson continued.
Patterson had essentially left her apartment and packed up several license plates, identification cards, and a noose before setting out on her one-way journey, according to prosecutor Anthony Dundon’s remarks during the trial.
During the sentencing hearing, he stated, “This is not a cry for help.” This was a deliberate act that put many individuals at danger.
For The Oregonian/OregonLive, Zane Sparling reports on court proceedings and breaking news. You may contact him at [email protected], 503-319-7083, or pdxzane.
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