The under-construction Salem Police Department headquarters on Tuesday, August 25.(Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Salem police have arrested a Keizer man who is accused of firing a shotgun into the air in front of group of 20 people protesting in front of the Salem Police station Thursday night.
Larry McFarland, 75, faces charges of unlawful weapon use and two counts of menacing, Salem police said in a news release.
The group was gathered to advocate for police abolition, according to Salem police and social media accounts of the event. They were chalking the sidewalk in front of the station with anti-police sentiments.
A man approached the group with the gun around 9 p.m. and said, “Which one of you (expletive) was doing (inaudible)?” Then, he fired a round into the air, according to video footage of the incident.
“This thing is loaded and it’s going to kill whoever (expletive),” he said.
“Drop the gun!” a person yells on the video. The man went behind an SUV.
Police were “monitoring the protest from a distance,” the release said, when they saw the man and yelled for him to drop the weapon.
He refused, got into his truck and left. Officers stopped the truck a few blocks north of the police station and pulled the driver over.
They arrested McFarland, the release said. No one was injured. McFarland was lodged at the Marion County Jail will be arraigned at 2:30 Friday.
-Saphara Harrell
