Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry on Monday said an investigation has determined a Linfield College student-athlete and the man who fatally attacked him at a 7-Eleven in November did not know each other and had no altercation before the stabbing.
Berry held a news conference Monday afternoon to release details in the stabbing death of football player Parker Moore and the subsequent officer-involved shooting that killed his attacker.
"There is no apparent motive that we can come up with," Berry said.
Moore, 20, was fatally stabbed in the chest at about 11 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the store across from the McMinnville college campus. His attacker was identified by Berry's office as Joventino Bermudez-Arenas, 33, who lived nearby.
Police shot and killed Bermudez-Arenas when he returned to the store shortly after the stabbing. Members of his family said he was returning to surrender to authorities.
Berry said at the news conference that Bermudez-Arenas was holding his hands in fists over his head, with one hand clutching a knife, when officers saw him after his return to the station. Berry described him as shaking his hands twice, then a third time as he took a step toward officers, who were repeatedly telling him to get down.
Berry said three officers fired 15 shots, with one firing 11 times and the other two firing twice.
Deadly force was used because this was a "lethal threat," Berry said. Bermudez-Arenas was 10 to 12 feet away from officers before he took a step toward them and was fired upon.
Bermudez-Arenas, who only spoke Spanish, would not have understood English-speaking authorities if they had given him instructions, his family said.
Bermudez-Arenas's brother Horacio Bermudez Arenas told The Oregonian that any gesture with the knife was probably his brother trying to give up the weapon to police.
Berry said it was unknown if a language barrier played a part in the shooting. He said officers did what they are trained to do, and that they often don't have time to determine the primary language of suspects. In this case, the suspect didn't drop his weapon despite officers having their weapons drawn, Berry said.
Members of the Yamhill County Major Crime Response Team interviewed the three McMinnville police officers -- Sgt. Rhonda Sandoval, Officer Brian McMullen and Officer Justin James -- the week after the stabbing, Berry said.
The officers had been on paid administrative leave pending the investigation's outcome. Berry said the officers will not face charges and have been cleared of wrongdoing.
Investigators originally said they had no motive for the stabbing. A day after the deaths, Capt. Tim Svenson of the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said, "We don't have an idea of that at all. We don't have anything to explain or connect the two. It wasn't a robbery gone wrong, it wasn't an altercation."
Moore's death sent shock waves through the college and the community. The Thursday after his death about 2,000 mourners gathered at a Linfield College gymnasium for a memorial service.
"He was a leader that would always have your back,'' said Brent Constantine, who grew up with Moore in Woodinville, Washington, where they were friends since fourth grade. "He was a great person to be around, a great teammate."
Moore and Constantine played football and ran track for Woodinville High School, graduating in 2013. Constantine said Moore worked as hard or harder than anybody on the team.
Moore gave his best every game and was captain of the high school team in their senior year, playing both defense as a linebacker and offense as a running back, Constantine said.
Moore was a business management major and a resident adviser, school officials said.
This story will continue to be updated as more information is released.
-- Everton Bailey and Tony Hernandez