College Athlete Sues After Police Shot Him Five Times as He Escaped Hostage-Taker

Maverick Lyon, a lacrosse player at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, came back home to Albany, Oregon, in January, was taken hostage by his own brother, then shot five times by Albany police.

Maverick, 21 years old, was taken hostage by 27-year-old Dakota on January 6, 2026. Dakota had allegedly “relapsed on drugs and was behaving dangerously,” KPTV reported.

At some point during the hostage situation, Maverick grabbed a knife to use to protect himself from his brother. Then, seeing officers outside, he made a break for it but officers allegedly opened fire on him as he exited the home.

KVAL noted that video from the incident “shows Maverick…exiting the home as police yell, ‘Drop it.’ As he falls to the ground, the knife drops out of his hand. Multiple officers can be heard yelling, ‘Drop the knife.’”

Video from scene also picked up audio of Maverick telling police, “You guys shot the wrong guy.”

The lawsuit filed by Maverick claims he “dropped a knife before coming out of the home with his hands extended, but officers opened fire, shooting him at least five times.” The lawsuit also claims an officer continued firing at him even after he was on the ground.

Maverick’s lawsuit “names two officers, the City of Albany, Benton County and a county probation officer as defendants.”

The Benton County District Attorney’s Office sided with the officers’ use of force, claiming Maverick “was still dropping the knife as he came through the door.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.