UPDATE: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 – A suspect fled police in a vehicle early Saturday morning and led them on a foot chase before starting a gunfight with officers, the Oregon State Police announced in a news release.
The police statement Saturday evening said that “one suspect is deceased, another is injured and the original suspect has been arrested.” The state agency provided no information about the role of the deceased suspect or how they died.
State police are investigating the shootout and provided the following account of the incident.
An officer of the Independence Police Department initiated a traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday when the suspect fled.
Police stopped pursuing the suspect after deploying spike strips, which disabled the vehicle. The suspect then fled on foot.
Police later found the suspect, who “attempted to flee the area in another vehicle,” according to the statement. “The suspect opened fire on responding officers, striking a Polk County Deputy and law enforcement officers discharged their weapons in response.”
The deputy remained in stable condition Saturday evening, according to a spokesperson for the state agency.
Oregon State Police is the primary agency conducting use of a deadly force investigation.
“There is no reason to believe there is any danger to the public at this time,” according to the statement.
State police said in the statement that it would release no other information about the incident, and any updates will come from the Polk County District Attorney’s Office.
UPDATE: HIGHWAY OPEN – Oregon TripCheck at about 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, showed that Oregon Highway 22 has reopened to regular traffic. The highway was closed for more than 12 hours for a police investigation.
UPDATE: 7:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 – A Polk County sheriff’s deputy is recovering from non-life threatening shooting.
Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton said Saturday that a Polk County sheriff’s deputy was shot but is recovering “in stable condition with non life threatening injuries.”
Garton didn’t identify the deputy or release other details about the shooting that happened overnight Friday.
“The alleged suspect is currently at Salem Health Hospital receiving treatment and has not been charged at this point,” Garton said.
The investigation into the shooting has closed a four-mile stretch of Oregon Highway 22 from west Salem to Doaks Ferry Road because of “police activity,” the Oregon Department of Transportation said early Saturday.
Garton said the Oregon State Police would take over the investigation and as a result the highway will “remain closed for an extended period of time.”
West-bound traffic was being diverted onto Wallace Road. Motorists traveling east were being diverted to a detour on Doaks Ferry Road, the agency.
ODOT said in a statement at about 3 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, that the closure could last several hours.
The latest closure information can be found on Oregon TripCheck.
