Nic Cederberg is a medically retired Oregon State Police trooper who was shot twelve times on Christmas night 2016 while pursuing a murder suspect near Sherwood, Oregon. He survived, received the National Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor from President Donald Trump in 2019, and filed a $30 million negligence lawsuit against a 911 dispatch center, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and Legacy Meridian Park Hospital. Every claim was eventually dismissed.
What Happened on Gimm Lane
On December 25, 2016, 30-year-old James Tylka shot and killed his estranged wife, 24-year-old Katelynn Tylka-Armand, outside his mother’s home in King City, Oregon, during a custody exchange of the couple’s 11-month-old daughter. Tylka used a 9 mm handgun he had bought from a private seller the day before.1Washington County District Attorney. Katelynn Armand-Tylka Homicide Press Release He then fled in a white Mitsubishi. A countywide alert went out around 10:35 p.m.2Police1. Ore. Trooper Shot 12 Times Files $30M Negligence Lawsuit
Cederberg spotted the car and followed it down Gimm Lane, a dark rural road that dead-ended in brush and outbuildings. When Tylka reached the end, he turned around, rammed the patrol car, and opened fire. The two exchanged shots at close range. Seven bullets entered Cederberg’s body; five more were stopped by his ballistic vest.3Bureau of Justice Assistance. Nicholas Cederberg – Medal of Valor Recipient Tylka took the trooper’s gun and ran into the brush. Officers from Hillsboro, Sherwood, and Tualatin arrived, found Cederberg near his patrol car, and located Tylka, who pointed a firearm at them. Five officers fired, hitting Tylka 21 times; the medical examiner also found a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.4Hillsboro News-Times. DA Rules Officers Justified in Fatally Shooting Suspect in Christmas Shooting
The Warning Signs Before the Shooting
Three things happened in the weeks before Christmas that the lawsuit would later put at the center of the case.
On November 30, 2016, Tylka attempted suicide by overdosing on insulin at Legacy Meridian Park Hospital. According to the lawsuit, the emergency room doctor did not hold him for involuntary psychiatric treatment. About a month before the killing, Katelynn told a Washington County sheriff’s deputy that Tylka was making threatening calls and had talked about killing her and harming her new boyfriend. And on the night of the murder, dispatchers at the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency knew Tylka was armed and suicidal but, the lawsuit alleged, entered that information into the computer-aided dispatch system rather than broadcast it on the radio channels Cederberg was monitoring. He pursued the car without knowing who was in it.2Police1. Ore. Trooper Shot 12 Times Files $30M Negligence Lawsuit
His Injuries and Recovery
Cederberg was taken to Oregon Health and Science University in critical condition. Surgeons repaired a collapsed lung and two broken arms. One leg was paralyzed in the shooting. A bullet remains lodged in his spine.3Bureau of Justice Assistance. Nicholas Cederberg – Medal of Valor Recipient By mid-January 2017, his family said he had taken 26 steps using a leg brace.5WLOS. Trooper Critically Injured on Christmas Day Takes Several Steps At a 2025 speaking engagement, he said he had been through more than 50 surgeries and that his right leg remains paralyzed.6The Daily Advocate. Fallen Officers Honored During the Back the Blue He is medically retired from the Oregon State Police.
The $30 Million Lawsuit
Cederberg and his wife, Portland Police officer Haley Shelton, sued in federal court for $30 million. The case, Cederberg v. Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency et al. (No. 3:18-cv-02044-HZ), was assigned to U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez in the District of Oregon.7Police1. Most of $30M Negligence Lawsuit Filed by Shot Ore. Trooper Dismissed The complaint named three defendants:
- The Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency, for failing to put the information about Tylka’s threat on the radio.
- The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, for a deputy’s failure to arrest Tylka on domestic violence grounds when Katelynn reported his threatening calls roughly a month before the murder.
- Legacy Meridian Park Hospital, for releasing Tylka after his suicide attempt rather than holding him for involuntary psychiatric treatment.
In July 2019, Judge Hernandez dismissed the claims against the Washington County defendants. The sheriff’s office claims were dismissed with prejudice. On the 911 claims, the court held that failing to broadcast the information was an omission rather than affirmative conduct, so it could not support a “state-created danger” claim under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983, and that the plaintiffs had not shown deliberate indifference, since the complaint itself conceded the dispatchers could not know whether Cederberg had received the critical information.8Justia. Cederberg et al v. Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency et al
The hospital claim lasted longer. On September 28, 2020, Judge Hernandez granted summary judgment to Legacy Health, ruling that it was protected by immunity under Oregon law and that the plaintiffs could not establish factual causation between the hospital’s release of Tylka and a shooting that occurred nearly a month later.9OregonLive. Judge Dismisses Hospital From $30 Million Lawsuit Filed by Oregon State Trooper Shot 12 Times
Cederberg appealed. On March 21, 2022, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal, resting its ruling on duty and causation rather than immunity. The court held that the shooting was not reasonably foreseeable to the hospital: Tylka had no prior mental health history, he had promised to seek follow-up care, the shooting happened weeks later and far from the hospital, and Cederberg was a person the hospital had never heard of. The court also found that no reasonable trier of fact could conclude the hospital’s release was the “but-for” cause of his injuries, given the 24-day gap and the independent events in between, including a job loss, a gun purchase, and a physical altercation.10Casemine. Cederberg v. Legacy Health, No. 20-35907 That ruling ended the litigation.
The Medal of Valor
On May 22, 2019, President Donald Trump presented Cederberg with the National Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor at the White House. It is the highest national honor for valor by a public safety officer.11KATU. President Trump Honors Oregon State Police Trooper Nic Cederberg With Medal of Valor The citation recognized Cederberg for “taking brave and decisive action to bring a murderer to justice on Christmas night, 2016” and for “placing himself directly in the line of fire and sustaining several life-threatening gunshot wounds.”12Trump White House Archives. Remarks by President Trump at Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Ceremony
What He Does Now
Dashcam footage from the shooting is used to train officers in tactical scenarios. Cederberg speaks publicly about law enforcement safety and about what he describes as systemic failures that preceded his shooting, including faulty radio equipment used by the Oregon State Police. He has said he submitted a memo warning about the radio system before the incident and faced disciplinary action for doing so.6The Daily Advocate. Fallen Officers Honored During the Back the Blue
In May 2025, he was the guest speaker at the Back the Blue Memorial Ceremony in Greenville, Ohio, where he recounted the shooting and his recovery. His wife, Haley Cederberg, spoke about watching that recovery as a fellow officer. Cederberg told the audience that every award from the incident belongs to the officers who responded that night.6The Daily Advocate. Fallen Officers Honored During the Back the Blue