One man was killed in a shooting at a south Salem apartment early Sunday morning and the suspected killer led police on a pursuit before crashing and dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Salem Police Department announced in a news release.
Police said they responded at 6:25 a.m. Sunday to multiple reports of shots fired at an apartment in the 4000 block of South Liberty Road.
“Witnesses reported hearing an argument then the sound of gunfire with a person fleeing the scene in a vehicle, leaving one man deceased from a gunshot wound,” according to the police statement.
A responding officer found and pursued the driver, who was headed south on Southeast Commercial Street.
The driver crashed through the property of two businesses in the 4700 block of Commercial Street.
“The driver was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” according to the statement.
Police said in the statement that both deaths are under investigation and they would release no additional information.
Commercial Street was closed between Boone Road and Southeast Hilfiker Lane for around four hours while police investigated the collision.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
